Before It's Too Late
by crimsonpendant
Summary: everything is normal in the academy but what will happen right after Mikan knows the result of her Alice test? What will they react if she took over Natsume's place in missions and stuff? What'll happen to her? Read and find out...
1. An introduction

CHAPTER 1: An Introduction

Things still go the same way in Alice Academy. Students are still not allowed to see their parents for safety purposes unless you become an honor student so that you would get a reward to get a one week visit home on vacation. Students still base their levels according to their age and their star ranks based on their performance and Alice control. And even if people may say that a stay in Alice Academy, some students are still not happy because some of them are forced to take missions and many more.

But as they say, change is the only permanent thing in this little world of ours. But as of now, all of our favorite characters are 16 years of age and are now in the high school division. And here are the latest things that have happened to our favorite gang:

Mikan Sakura is now a three star due to the fact that she was able to fully control her Nullification Alice and that she also performs well in school. She looks very beautiful and grew perfect curves at the proper places. Since she is already a pretty teen, she lets her hair down because pigtails doesn't suit her anymore and simple because Natsume keeps on burning her ribbons. She also has a fan club just like Natsume and Ruka. But even so she has changed physically; she's still same innocent, sweet and dense Mikan that we used to know.

Hotaru Imai is still a three star and the oh so famous Ice Queen and all time favorite Blackmailer. She still blackmails Ruka even though he's already her boyfriend. She still remains calm at all times and she still spends more time in her lab because she has a lot of inventions to finish which were ordered by her foreign buyers. She is still also competes with Yuu in attaining the honor student award each year. Her hair has grown a little bit longer which now lands on her shoulders and just like her best friend, she also has a fan club.

Natsume Hyuuga still remains the popular guy at school. He's still the cold-hearted heartthrob wherein many girls from all classes fell for. He is still the famous Kuro Neko that takes missions in order to protect all of his friends although he gets weaker and weaker due to his Alice consumption. He still has his special feelings for a certain bubbly brunette which everyone loves but can't seem to find the proper time and way on how to confess his feelings since he has a reputation to protect while inside the academy and since Persona might hurt her.

Ruka Nogi is the three star with the Animal Pheromone Alice. During their last year in Middle School, he finally found the courage to confess to our beloved Ice Queen and to his luck, the Ice Queen also felt the same way for him. This best friend of the Black Cat still has his fan club but thanks to his girlfriend, he's not that much irritated by those girls not like Natsume. He still goes to the academy's barn just to check the animals whenever he has the free time.

Anna Umenomiya is now a two star with the Cooking Alice. She now helps in a bakery in Central Town whenever she has free time and is currently the girlfriend of Yuu Tobita (Inchou) which is a three star and has the Illusion Alice.

Nonoko Ogasawara is also now a two star with the Chemical Alice and helps in a pharmacy in Central Town just like Anna. She's also the girlfriend of our beloved mind reader, Kokoro Yomi.

Sumire Shouda is still the president of the Natsume-Ruka Fan Club. She gets majorly pissed whenever there are other girls who are very close to Natsume and Ruka. But since Ruka already has a girlfriend, she doesn't cling onto him that much since she doesn't want to get hit by Hotaru's Baka Gun. She's still the bossy type of girl that you have met before and she always has burned hair almost every morning because she always bugs Natsume every morning.

Mochu, the one with the Levitation Alice is now a two star who seems to have an interest with our cat-dog girl. He's currently dating her but he is not yet Sumire's boyfriend.

Mr. Narumi is still the jolly teacher that comes to class with weird looking outfits. The students got used to it already so they don't even mind at all but it really annoys the flame caster. He's still the English teacher of the students and he is often not discussing very much in class since he leaves everything to the substitute teacher since he has alibis on about everything.

Mr. Jinno is still the strict teacher in Mathematics. Many students think that his class is pretty boring. He hates late and sleeping students in his class. If he ever caught one being tardy or sleeping during the class, the punishment would either be being struck by his Lightning Alice or having loads of homework after class.

Persona is still the teacher in charge of the DA type class. Natsume still doesn't like him because he still forces him to take those missions since he is being blackmailed by him. He trains all DA type students in order to make them ready and well prepared whenever they have a mission although his way of training students id pretty harsh.

Now that you have known some of the changes that have happened to our characters, let us now proceed to our story.


	2. A sleepover plan at Hotaru's

CHAPTER 2: A Sleepover Plan at Hotaru's

One fine morning in the academy, the birds are singing a wonderful tune and the sun is casting its pretty bright rays and some of it went through the window of our precious brunette. She stirred a little as she light hit her eyes while she was lying in bed and then realization suddenly hit her.

She slowly opened her pair of amber eyes and then stared blankly at the clock on her three-star room checking what time it was. Her eyes became as big as saucers and then….

"KYAAAA!!! I'M GONNA BE LATE!!!" she scurried in doing all of her morning routines and then ran her way towards her room.

"I am so done for it! Jin-jin is our teacher this morning and I always end up oversleeping! Ugh! I really need a really loud alarm clock to wake me up!" Mikan kept mumbling to herself as she ran.

As she reached her class room, she gently and slowly opened the door making every head of her classmates stare at her direction plus the head of a very irritated Mr. Jinno.

"Sakura Mikan. Late again. As expected. You do know that you are late every morning? Aren't you getting tired of this daily routine of yours already?" said a very furious Jinno.

"Go – gomen sensei." Mumbled Mikan while bowing her head in front of her teacher.

"Very well then. Proceed to your seat and try to catch up because I will NOT repeat the lessons that you missed just because of your oversleeping habit." Jinno explained.

"Hai." Answered Mikan as she headed to her seat in front of our fire caster and the animal lover. She quietly sat down trying to understand everything that Jinno has been babbling about. And then without knowing it, she fell asleep on her desk.

While teaching, Mr. Jinno faced the class and then noticed that her least favorite student was asleep.

"SAKURA MIKAN!!!" Jinno roared while slamming his hands on Mikan's desk

"_Uh-oh. This would be trouble."_ The class thought at the same time. They just silently prayed in their seats that their classmate would be okay.

"You do know that being late at all times is already something that I hate from one of my students! Now you even dare to sleep?!" Jinno hissed while holding his wand as thunder starts to appear.

"_Tch. If he tries to harm even a single hair on Polka's head, he's barbecued!" _Natsume thought. _"Hey! What the heck I'm thinking?! Damn! Bad thoughts go away!" _And then our beloved fire caster just heard a little chuckle from the mind reader but he just gave him a tell-a-soul-and-you-will-be-burned-into-a-crisp death glare.

Just a few moments after, Jinno released his lightining aiming for our beloved brunette. But then again, the lightning disappeared. The gang of Mikan was relieved, the others were shocked including their teacher. It was a good thing that Mikan has nullified Mr. Jinno's Alice just in the nick of time.

"So you are really able to control you Alice pretty well." Jinno said as the school bell rang. "Looks like you are saved by the bell Ms. Sakura. That's about it for today. Class dismissed." And then he left.

As the students were leaving the room, Mikan was crowded by her group of friends.

"MIkan-chan! Daijobou?" asked Anna and Nonoko at the same time.

"I'm fine guys. Really. No need to worry." Answere Mikan as she flashed them a very bright smile.

BAKA! BAKA! BAKA!

"ITAI!!! Hotaru! What was that for?" cried Mikan as she was being helped to stand up by Yuu. "Arigato Inchou." She replied as she stood up while rubbing her aching head.

"BAKA. What the heck is wrong with you? Can't you get rid of the oversleeping habit? It's getting you into trouble." Hotaru said as emotionlessly as possible while she was blowing the smoke off the tip of her gun.

"I know. But I just can't help it. I really love sleeping and once I sleep, I just can't seem to wake up easily. It's a good thing that today is a Friday so I guess I could sleep as long as I want to."

"Not this time sleeping beauty." Nonoko butted in.

"Huh? Why?"

"Because we are having a sleepover tonight at Hotaru's place." Anna answered. "We will do lots of stuff and we will surely sleep very late. So, you wanna come?"

"Really?!? Yay!!"

"Quiet down will you. The sleepover will be tonight at my place. We go straight to my room right after dinner. But if you would rather have a good night's sleep in your room, then you could might as well not come. I wouldn't mind." Hotaru said.

"NO! I'd be happier to go there! Knowing that Hotaru and you guys will be there then I will go!" said a very energized Mikan.

"Hey Hotaru. Can I come too?" asked his boyfriend, Ruka.

"No."

"Why???"

"Because it's for girls only. Well, I gotta go now. I still have to finish an invention. Ja minna. Ja Ruka." Then she left but gave his boyfriend a peck on the cheek before she headed outside of the classroom.

"Aww. That was sooooooo sweeeet!!" giggled Anna and Nonoko.

"Yeah. At least all because of Ruka, Hotaru softened up even just for a bit. I guess having a boyfriend doesn't seem to be too bad after all." Mikan exclaimed as Ruka sweatdropped.

"I guess. But she still blackmails me though. I guess that would be something that I have to get used to." Ruka answered.

"Having a boyfriend is something special. But I wonder how come Mi-chan doesn't have one." Nonoko stated.

"Nonoko's right Mi-chan. It's kind of hard to believe that with all of the fan boys that you have, you still don't have one. I mean, you do have a lot of hot fan boys out there." Anna continued while our little fire caster was just listening to their little conversation.

"Demo. I just don't want to have a boyfriend yet." Mikan said

"Why? All of them loves you in some sort of way. They even chase you around the campus just like how they chase Natsume." Nonoko continued as Natsume just gave her a glare.

"I just don't want to have them as my boyfriend because it seems that they just want me for some stupid popularity. I want someone who will love me the way for who I am naturally inside and outside just like how Koko loves Nonoko, Yuu loves Anna, Mochu loves Sumire, and how Ruka loves Hotaru. Do you guys get why I mean?" Mikan explained with hearts as eyes.

"Tch. Now who on earth would really fall for you that way?" Natsume shot back with a smirk. "Only an idiot would fall for another idiot."

"Hey! I'm not an idiot you pervert! If someone would love me, I bet it's someone not as cold-hearted as you are!" Mikan retorted.

"Tch. No one would be stupid to fall in love with you. You can't even wear decent underwear for your age." Said Natsume as he stood up heading for the classroom door.

"why you!!! Natsume!! Get back here you perverted moron!!" Mikan yelled as Anna and Nonoko just giggles. Looks like even if they are already teens, their fighting routine still never ends.

"Well, I better get going now Sakura-san. I still have to visit the barn." Ruka interrupted and then followed Natsume out of the room.

And then, Nonoko left with Anna since they have to go to Central Town.

"Hey Angel, does that mean that Natsume is an idiot?" asked Koko since he knew very well that he flame caster has already fallen in love with the nullifier ever since they were 10.

"Huh? What do you mean?" asked a baffled Nonoko. "Natsume is a genius. He can ace exams even if he's skipping all his classes. It's impossible for him to be an idiot. Why'd you ask?"

And then an image of him being burnt into crisps suddenly flashed into his mind. "Never mind. We better get going or else you would be late." And then they all went their separate ways. Anna and Yuu turned right heading towards the bakery while Koko and Nonoko turned left heading towards the pharmacy.


	3. An online friend

CHAPTER 3: An Online Friend

Mikan had nothing else to do so she just decided to head to her room. She opened her laptop and then signed on her IM account. She has her private account that only she and Hotaru knows since her previous account was filled with her fan boys.

MIKAN'S POV

"_Uhmm, since I don't have anything else to do before the sleepover party at Hotaru's, I might as well chat with some people. I just hope that they are not one of my fan boys if I join in a conference room."_

**sweetpetal has just logged on**

Then she logged her account on and then joined a chatroom.

"Oh. Too bad, there's no one online. Geez. So much for something to do." Then she let out a sigh as someone else joined the chatroom.

NATSUME'S POV

"_Tch. How boring. I might as well have a chat with someone. It's a good thing that my fan girls don't know this account."_

**Glaringeyes has just logged on**

NORMAL POV

"Oooohhh. I wonder who this glaringeyes is? The name sounds kinda creepy. But who cares? I need someone to talk to right now since everyone else is busy. But how on earth am I going to start a conversation with him? Maybe he's a cold-hearted jerk just like Natsume." Mikan said to herself.

But suddenly, a buzz suddenly rang and she looked at her screen noticing that glaringeyes already has a pm for her

Glaringeyes: oi!

Sweetpetal: gee. Rude much. What a way to introduce yourself.

Glaringeyes: whatever.

Sweetpetal: oh great. You sound just like someone I know.

Glaringeyes: like I care.

Sweetpetal: *sigh* This won't go anywhere. Let's start all over shall we? Hi. What's your name?

Glaringeyes: and why should I tell you?

Sweetpetal: then what the heck is the purpose of giving me a pm if you won't talk properly?

Glaringeyes: fine. But you first.

"_Should I tell him/her my real name? uhm… maybe not. She/He might be a fan boy/girl. I better be safe than sorry. I might as well tell him/her my second name since only hotaru/ruka knows about it." _They both thought.

Sweetpetal: okie dokie. I'm Shontelle. Nice to meet mr. uhm.. what's your name again?

Glaringeyes: hm. Setsu here.

Sweetpetal: hi again Setsu. I'm kinda lonely sometimes. Can you be my friend even if it's just online?

Glaringeyes: hn.

Sweetpetal: uhm, I'll take that as a yes. Oh my, its late and I still need to go somewhere else or else my best friend might kill me if I'm late. Bye Setsu!

**Sweetpetal has signed out.**

NATSUME'S POV

"Hn. Shontelle. Who could that be? I don't even know someone of that name. tch. I wonder what would Polka be doing at this time at Imai's place?"

KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.

NORMAL POV

Natsume's thoughts were driven away since he was distracted by the knocks on the door. He quickly opened the door revealing all of his gang. The guys planned to have a sleepover a Natsume's room since it was the biggest and since they won't be able to spend the night with their girlfriends as well – except for Natsume that is.

"Hey. You're early." Natsume greeted.

"We might as well come early to be able to do more things." Ruka explained

"Come in." Natsume ordered and then as if on cue, all of the boys followed. Ruka first, followed by Yuu, and then Koko

"So what are we going to do?" Yuu asked.

"Do whatever you want as long as you won't make a mess because I definitely won't be cleaning it if you make one." Natsume explained.

"Yes Boss." The guys chorused. They wouldn't want to get Natsume angry because they already know what their consequence may be if they did.

Meanwhile, in the part of the girls:

"Yey! A sleepover! I can't wait!" Mikan squealed while walking through the dormitory corridors. "A sleepover! A sleepover! Yey! We will have a sleepover at Hotaru's place! Wee!" she sang while making up her own tone.

"Mi-chan, you really like sleepovers do you?" asked Nonoko as they were walking through the empty corridors.

"Of course! I'm sure we will definitely have a very great time!" Mikan replied.

"Yeah. She's excited all right. Just this morning she was all sleepy and everything but now, she's so hyped up. When it comes to activities like this, you should really expect a perky Mikan-chan to join." Anna stated.

After a five minute walk from Anna's room, the three girls arrived at Hotaru's room and Anna took the liberty to knock on the door.

KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.

"Come in." Hotaru said with a stoic face.

"HOTARUUUU!!!!!!!" Mikan ran to her best friend attemping to hug her while

BAKA! BAKA! BAKA!

"ITAIII!!!"

"I already told you not to hug me 'cuase I don't want to get infected by your baka germs." Hotaru stated while Nonoko helped Mikan up as she was crying he eyes out. "Mou!! Hotaru!! you big meanie!!"

Everyone else sweat dropped and thought of the same thing

"_This is really going to be a looooooonnggg night."_


	4. Sleepover of the girls

CHAPTER 4: Sleepover of the Girls

"A sleepover, a sleepover, we are having a sleepover. La, la, la, la, la, la." Mikan sang in an unknown tune.

"Baka." Hotaru mumbled.

"Give her a break Hotaru-chan. She's just excited. You know Mi-chan. She loves things like this." Nonoko said. "She's been singing ever since we were walking down the hallways."

"Yeah. And besides, it's been a long time since we had our last sleepover. This would surely be fun. We can talk about different stuffs and play a whole lot of games!" Anna added.

"Hey girls, what are we gonna do now?" asked Mikan with a very big smile on her face.

They just stared at each other's eyes while thinking of something to do until Hotaru broke the silence.

"How about we play a little game? A sleepover party won't be a sleepover party without fun and games after all." Said Hotaru with an evil glint in her eyes.

"A game! Yey! Okie dokie Hotaru!" squealed Mikan

BAKA BAKA BAKA!

"Quiet down will you! You will wake the others up." Hotaru said in a low voice.

"Gomen." Mikan apologized.

"Demo, what are we going to play Hotaru-chan?" Anna asked. Then out of the blue Hotaru took out an invention.

"Invention #239: the Truth or Dare Machine. This machine will the one in charge to ask the question or the dare that the victim will receive so there's no need to waste time in thinking of something. The arrow will be spun and whoever it points will be the victim. The one who spun the arrow will be the one to read the question/dare that the victim will be receiving. You have 10 seconds to answer or to do the dare. If you don't, you will meet Baka Cannon3.5." Hotaru explained to everyone

"Ok. It would be fine by me." stated Nonoko.

"But who will spin the arrow first?" asked Mikan.

"How about we let Hotaru-chan to spin it first? She planned this sleepover after all." Anna suggested. Then the other 2 just nodded as a sign of approval. As if on cue, Hotaru spun the arrow and it pointed to Mikan.

"Truth or Dare, baka?"

"Uhm, I guess I'll go with truth." And then a pink paper came out of the machine and Hotaru read it for Mikan. _"Since this is an invention, I might get to do horrible things if ever I choose dare. I might as well be safe."_

"What was the first embarrassing thing that ever happened to you here in the academy that involves a person with the opposite gender?"

"Weh? Hota-chan, do I really have to answer that?" Mikan asked while giving Hotaru the puppy dog face.

"A puppy dog face won't work on me Mikan and you know that. 10 seconds to answer or meet my Baka Cannon 3.5"

"Ugh. Fine. It was when I first entered the academy and Mr. Misaki told me that if ever Natsume woke up, I press the red button on the wall. But I didn't notice that he already woke up that time. He hold onto my hair, threatened me that if I don't tell him who I am, he'll burn it. Luckily, Mr. Narumi came in with Mr. Misaki and then Natsume left with Ruka through the window not knowing that he took off my skirt revealing my polka-dotted undies in front of everyone. There. Happy?" Mikan answered.

"Ooohh. So that's why he calls you Polka. Kawaii!" Anna and Nonoko giggled.

"Okay, my turn to spin." Mikan continued and then the arrow pointed to Anna. "Truth or Dare, Anna-chan?"

"Dare." Then a yellow paper came out.

And then the game continued. After the truth or dare game, they went telling stories about their childhood, pets, love life, school crushes and many more. Just when they were in the middle of their little chitchat, a knock was heard.

"Imai-san, I know you girls are having a sleepover but it's already very late and you might wake up the other students. It would be advisable for all of you to get some sleep." Takahashi, the dorm robot reminded.

"Hey, she's right. It's already pretty late. Let's get some sleep." Hotaru said

"Oyasumi minna-san" they all chorused as they went to sleep.

The girls were already asleep except for Mikan. For some certain reason, she was not that sleepy so she just headed towards a shelf and then took a look at the photo albums of Hotaru's and then headed to the couch while flipping the pages.

"Oi. Why aren't you asleep yet?" asked her best friend as she headed towards Mikan and seated right beside her. "You know, it's only our same faces so there's no need to look at all of 'em."

"Oh Hotaru! it's just that I remember lots of things when I look at these pictures. How come I only saw them now?" she asked.

"Baka. I only sell pictures of Ruka. Those pictures are mine. I prefer keeping them rather than selling them." She explained. "And besides, those pictures have a lot of memories in it. I have a lot of pictures there ever since we were young."

"Yeah. Oh lookie here! It's so cute!" she squealed as she pointed at a certain photo. "Ano, Hotaru, you started to like Ruka-pyon all because of the blackmailing stuff, right?" she asked while her friend just nodded.

"It's a good thing that you two are together now. The both of you are happy and Ruka-pyon doesn't get chased by her fan girls anymore because you're there for him."

"Yeah. That's good but those girls are annoying though. How about you Mikan? When do you plan on telling him about your feelings?" Hotaru asked with a smirk written all over her face.

"Tell who about what?" she asked.

"Oh come on Mikan. I'm your best friend and for your information, I do know about your little crush over that Hyuuga boy. My little idiotic best friend has really grown up. She already likes someone." Hotaru explained while Mikan was just shocked. "Don't worry. You're not obvious. It's just that I know you too well. That's all." And with that Mikan was relieved.

"I don't know Hotaru. it's kinda weird if I would be the one telling him about how I feel. Shouldn't it be the other way around? And besides, he doesn't like me anyway so why would I bother right?"

"Don't say things like that easily. You don't even know what kind of feelings he has for you yet."

Mikan furrowed her eyebrows upon hearing Hotaru's answer. "What do you mean Hotaru? it's quite impossible for him to like me back since all he ever does is tease me about my underwear and about everything that I practically do. He's just a big meanie who doesn't even know how to be nice even just once in his life."

"I just know that everything will be okay when it comes to you." she said. _"You just have to be less dense to notice that Natsume likes you a lot."_

"How?"

"I have my ways and I happen to be a very good observer. You'll know someday and when it's the proper time. You just have to open your eyes to notice it properly." She replied while keeping the other albums since they were done looking at the photos. "Well, we should go to bed now. It's really late."

"Hai! I don't want to have big panda eyes tomorrow!" and then they both went to bed. They were sharing the same bed while Anna and Nonoko were sharing another one.

"Oyasumi Mikan."

"Oyasumi Hotaru."

"_She's really a baka. Almost the whole gang knows that Hyuuga loves her. How come she doesn't notice it? Well, she has to find it out herself." _Hotaru thought as she drifted to sleep.


	5. Sleepover of the guys

CHAPTER 5: Sleepover of the Guys

All of the guys are seated on their own places in the living room area of his special star room while Koko was searching for a dvd that they could possibly watch for the night. They plan to have a movie marathon that night with some snacks.

"Hey Koko! Could you hurry up for the next one?! We're already bored!" Ruka scolded. "Just pick up something and plug it in. it's not that hard to do, you know."

"Just wait a sec! I already found one. I just don't know how to get it without messing up Natsume's things. The tapes are too many and they might fall if I just pull one out." Koko answered back. "I don't want to get burnt into crisps just by messing up his dvd tapes you know! I love my life!"

"Patience is a virtue, hahah." Yuu answered with a chuckle.

"Tch. Patience is something that I don't have much so you better hurry up. And don't make a mess with those DVD's because if you do, you know the consequences." Said Natsume as he lit a small fire in his palm

"Got it! Sheesh! Natsume's stuff is scary! Everything else might fall if you won't be careful." Koko shot back while inserting the disk inside the player.

They were all watching a movie while eating snacks and having little conversations in the middle.

"Hey, what do you think Hotaru and the others are doing right now? They are having a sleepover at her place right?" Ruka asked

"Yeah. Angel told me that she would stay there for the night." Koko answered.

"Angel?" asked Natsume while cocking an eyebrow. "Who on earth is that? I don't even remember having a classmate with a name of Angel."

"That's how Nonoko and Koko call each other." Yuu explained.

"Tch."

"Yuu also calls Anna her cupcake." Ruka added as Natsume just focuses on the plasma TV screen in front of them.

"How about you Ruka?" asked Natsume.

"What about me, Natsume?"

"Don't you and Imai have other names other than your own names?" he asked while cocking another eyebrow.

"We don't have one." Ruka answered as they continued watching. "And besides, Hotaru might hit me by one of her guns if I call her something other than her name. I'd rather stick with calling her Hotaru rather than meeting the wrath of her Baka Gun. It hurts, you know."

"Hey, why isn't Mochu here?" Koko suddenly blurted out.

"I think he's going out to dinner with Sumire today." Stated Yuu and then Natsume suddenly spoke

"He's going out with that ugly hag? Poor guy. I won't even wonder if I see him tomorrow with claw scratches on his face."

"I guess he's really into Shouda-san. How about you Natsume? Who do you like of all the girls in the academy?" Ruka asked his best friend with a smirk and an evil glint in his eye as Natsume was just staring at him.

"Of all the questions, why would you ask me that one, Ruka? You know very well that I'm not into girls and stuff like that. They are just plain annoying and noisy."

"Nothing. We were just wondering why the famous heartthrob, the Natsume Hyuuga, doesn't have a girlfriend even though he has good looks. It's kind of unusual for someone who has good looks like you." Ruka replied.

"Yeah. I was wondering of the same thing. Come to think of it, you and Mikan are more likely the same somehow." Yuu added.

"Polka? Why on the bloody world would I be the same with her?"

"Well," Yuu continued. "Among the people in our group of friends, you and Mikan are the only ones left single while a lot of people are really willing to be with the two people. I mean, you two could practically have anyone you want since a whole lot of people like you. They would even do all sorts of things just for you to date them."

"He's right. You have fan girls drooling over you and Sakura-san also has fan boys chasing all her all over the academy. And it's very impossible that through all these years you haven't had any interest on a single girl. I mean, you're sixteen already." Ruka butted in.

"OH! Oh! Me! Me! Ask me! I know who he likes!" Koko blurted while Natsume just gave him one of his tell-them-and-your-toast look so he just shut his mouth. "Uhm, I guess I should just shut my mouth. As I have said a while ago, I still love my life." He quietly said and then continued watching the movie.

"You guys don't have to worry about me and my love life. Just because you have girlfriends doesn't mean that I am required to have one too." Natsume answered them. With that, the other guys just continued in watching the movie.

"You should tell her that you love her." Whispered Ruka to his best friend.

"What are you talking about, Ruka?" asked a baffled Natsume

"You know exactly what I'm talking about. I was able to tell Hotaru so you should tell Mikan too. Okay? It's not that hard. You just have to swallow your pride for a while." Ruka whispered again as Natsume just remain silent while he felt the light tap on the shoulder that his best friend gave him.

After watching the last movie, it was already three in the morning. They have watched a lot of movies with different genres like horror, suspense, thrill and action.

"Man, I'm deadbeat. Let's hit the sack already." Koko suggested.

"Who wouldn't? it looks like we already watched almost half of the DVDs that Natsume has." Ruka shot back.

"Koko's right. Let's all get some sleep if we don't want to have panda eyes in the morning." Yuu added.

"Panda eyes?" Natsume asked. "Where in the world did you get that?"

"I learned that from Mikan-chan." Yuu answered back with a little chuckle.

"Oyasumi minna" Ruka said.

"Hn." And then they all drifted to dreamland while Natsume was drifted away into his own thoughts.

"_Tell Polka huh? It's easier said than done. Tch. Why does she have to be so dense in the first place? And besides, she might get hurt by Persona if I tell. It would be a lot better this way at least I would be able to protect her." _he was so deep into his own thoughts until he has fallen asleep.


	6. Injections and tests

CHAPTER 6: Injections and Tests

The weekend has passed so quickly and the students of the academy were once again required to attend their usual regular classes.

"Ohayo minna!" greeted our brunette with her very special smile that can always brighten the day of others. As she greeted everyone, the flame caster and the animal lover made their entrance to their classroom. As they entered the classroom, their fan girls started squealing and drooling over them.

"Ohayo Ruka-pyon! Ohayo Natsume!"

"Ohayo Sakura-san"

"Hn."

And then their teacher in English finally came into the classroom and he's wearing a doctor suit with a matching stethoscope hanging on his shoulders. "Ohayo my dear students!!!"

"Uhm, Narumi-sensei! What's the doctor outfit for?" asked a very curious Mikan.

"Good thing you noticed Mikan-chan. well, today, we will not be having any other lessons but all of you will have to be tested." He answered.

"Nani? What test?" the class chorused except for Hotaru, Ruka and Natsume.

"The higher-ups of the academy have decided to take blood samples of the students every year via intravenous injections for them to know updates on your Alice and stuff like that. Don't worry my dear students, the injections won't hurt at all. Imai Subaru is even here to assist the nurses who'll take them. Very well then, I have to go. Adieu!" he left while twirling along the corridors.

"An injection huh? Tch. How stupid." Natsume mumbled and then he noticed that Mikan was acting weird right after Narumi's explanation.

"_What the heck is wrong with Polka right now? She became awfully quiet after that gay teacher's babbling." _ Natsume thought. "Oi Polka Dots, cat got your tongue? It's not like an idiot like you to be so quiet especially when class discussions are cancelled."

"N-nothing."

"Tch. And have I told you that you are totally not good at lying?" Natsume said with a smirk.

"He's right Sakura-san. You do seem to be spaced out and you're turning pale. Are you sure you're alright?" Ruka continued while Mikan just stared at the nurse while taking blood samples from the students.

"That idiotic best friend of mine is afraid of injections and other related needles ever since we were kids. That explains why she's turning pale and everything." Hotaru explained. "To make it all short, she has fear when it comes to needles of different kinds."

"Tch. Just as I thought. It's typical for an idiot like you to be scared. For goodness sake, you're already sixteen and yet a single needle could still make you cry." Natsume said as he smirked.

"Hey! Don't push it! I'm already scared to death so would you just stop annoying me!" Mikan snapped while tears started forming in her eyes.

"Err, not helping, Natsume. She's even paler now." Ruka whispered.

"Tch. And I thought that babies are the only ones who are scared of shots. You're already sixteen and yet you're still scared to death. An injection won't kill you, you know." He said to a trembling Mikan.

"Now all of you listen, please go to your partners and then wait for your turn as we approach you. This shot is different from normal injections so it might hurt a little bit but everything will be fine so there's absolutely nothing to worry about." Announce Subaru as they continued their work. But when Mikan heard his announcement, she became stiffer than ever. "Once you and you partner are done, you may leave the room."

"_So I guess she really hates shots and stuff. Tch" _

And now, everyone was gone since once you are done, you're allowed to go home. The last pair was Natsume and Mikan since they seat at the last row and Mikan insisted that they would be the last one since she's very afraid. And it was Mikan's turn since Natsume has just finished his shot.

"Hello there Mikan-chan. This won't hurt a bit." The nurse said as she was pointing the needle to Mikan's shoulder.

"No! I don't want one! I'm scared! I have always hated injections and other shots ever since I was a kid!" Mikan cried waterfall tears in front of them.

"Oi Polka! Hurry up and get the darn shot already! I can't go home if you won't do it. So stop whining and get the darn shot already."

"But Natsume! I'm scared and I'm sure it will hurt!" she said while still crying.

"Here." Natsume said while letting her hold his hand.

"Huh? What's that for?" she asked. "You would take the shot for me?"

"Baka. Why on earth would I take a shot for you when I already had one? Hold my hand while the darn nurse gets your shot. Do whatever you want with it so that you may ignore the pain. But make sure that you won't hold too tight or else my bones will be broken." He stated as Mikan got a hold of his hand as the nurse took her blood sample.

Once they were done, they walked back to the dormitories together since their dorm buildings are just beside each other. They walked in a deafening silence until Mikan broke it.

"Natsume?"

"Hn."

"Thank you."

"For what? I didn't do anything so there's nothing to thank me about."

"For the thing that you did earlier. You always say that you didn't do anything even though you help me a lot. I know you did it so that I will not be too scared." She said with one of her big smiles. This made Natsume blush but thanks to his bangs, he was able to cover it up.

"Whatever. Now run along. I have other things to attend to."

And then Mikan went back to her dorm room.

"_Natsume can be really nice sometimes. He may be cold and mean and a bit perverted, he still has a good side after all. Maybe that's why I fell for him. Huh? What the heck am I thinking right now?! Sheesh!" _Mikan thought as she entered her room. _"But how come I only see him being nice to me. He only talks to the guys. And it seems that I'm the only girl that he usually talks to. Could it be that he likes me too?"_

"Naaah. That's way too impossible. A genius and handsome Natsume Hyuuga would never fall for a klutz like a Mikan Sakuraa." She said to herself while entering her room.


	7. Another talk and a stressful night

CHAPTER 7: Another talk and a stressful night

Once they both got to their own rooms, they got their laptops and logged on to their private IM accounts since they were avoiding their fan girls/boys .

**Sweetpetal has logged on**

**Glaringeyes has logged on**

Sweetpetal: Hey! It's been a long time after we last talked. How are you, Setsu? 

Glaringeyes: fine. How about you?

Sweetpetal: tiring. Hahah. My eyes are soooo red.

Glaringeyes: why? Did you cry or something?

Sweetpetal: sort of. It's all the fault of that stupid injection. Did you have one in your class too?

Glaringeyes: yeah. I also have one classmate who cried her eyes out all because of it.

Sweetpetal: I guess she hates it like I do. Hahah.

Glaringeyes: hn. That reminds me, what class are you in?

Sweetpetal: im a first year high school student. How about you?

Glaringeyes: same. I'll be going now. I still have homework. Ja.

Sweetpetal: me too. Stupid Math. Ugh. Ja!

**Sweetpetal/glaringeyes has signed out**

NATSUME'S POV

It was already about 9:00 in the evening when he finished all of his work and then…

"Persona, you can come out now. I know your there so stop hiding 'cause it's no use."

"Good my dear Kuro Neko. Still sharp as always. I guess your training really paid off."

"Cut the crap, Persona. What do you want this time?"

"Patience my little black cat. You will have a mission tonight. You have to get a disc from the AAO that contains important details about all types of Alice. It seems that there are actually five types of Alice and the higher-ups of the academy want to know more things about it. Got that?"

"Whatever."

"Shall we go then? Kaoru will teleport you to the AAO hideout and then you go back to the academy on your own since he will give you a teleporting device. Be back as soon as you can."

"Hn."

"This teleportation device is like an Alice stone. It gives you the power to teleport yourself anywhere you wish but once it loses its color, it also loses its power so be sure to use it proplerly." Kaoru explained.

"Hn." Natsume was brought to the hideout by Kaoru, fought the butt of some AAO members and other bodyguards, burnt a few locks, doors and even people, and got the disc. But on his way back to the academy, someone blocked his way.

"Nice seeing you again, Natsume. My, have you grown from the last time I saw you. You're quite handsome as well. I bet you already have a girlfriend or something by this time."

"Back off, Reo." Natsume hissed.

"_Ugh. How come many people makes a fuss about the girlfriend thing nowadays?" _he thought.

"My, my. Still rude as ever as I can see. Why don't stay a bit longer? I'm sure my cronies will not mind. After all, they need someone to play with since they have been pretty lonely nowadays." Said Reo with a smirk as another group of AAO members appeared fully armed with guns and other attacking devices.

"Tch. Whatever you moron. Let's get this over and done with. I don't have time to talk to idiots just like you." He stated while lighting fire on both of his hands and then stated attacking Reo's people.

"Attack Hyuuga now!" He instructed as all of them started attacking Natsume all at once.

It was a good thing that Natsume has a strong offensive Alice and he's good at fighting as well. He can easily throw different punches and kicks at anyone who gets within a ten meter radius near him and he can dodge surprise attacks perfectly.

While Natsume was busy fighting the guards and goons of Reo, Reo took out a gun and then aimed it at Natsume. Natsume noticed this as soon as Reo pressed the trigger. He was able to dodge but he got a cut in his right shoulder. _"Damn!" _And then blood suddenly dripped through Natsume's uniform.

As the fighting continued, Natsume was able to beat all of the butts of the guards and then decided to teleport himself back to the academy. And in an instant, he was back at the Northern Forest where he was supposed to meet Persona.

"Back so soon Kuro Neko? Do you have the disk?" asked Persona as Natsume threw the disc at his face. Luckily, he was able to catch it.

"Job well done Natsume. Now you should get that shoulder checked. We don't want that to be infected don't we?"

"Whatever." Natsume then walked back to the dorms. He was having a hard time walking because of the pain that his bleeding shoulder is giving him.

And then he realized that the teleportation device given to him still has some power left so he teleported himself to his room since the pain in his shoulder is already unbearable for him. And the bruises and other cuts which he acquired from fighting aren't helping him to get to his room faster.

He reached his room panting, holding the wall for support and he just sat on his couch hoping that the pain would magically go away that very instant.

"_Damn that stupid demented teacher and the blasted missions that he makes me do."_

He was still panting while sitting. And then he was startled when he heard someone knock on the door.

"_Huh? What the heck? Who on earth would still be awake at this time of night? Geez. I won't answer it so that they would think that I'm asleep."_

And then to his surprise, the door opened as someone stepped in his room while this person was calling his name.

"_Damn! I forgot to lock the stupid door! Stupidity is really contagious! I really should stop sticking around with Polka!" _He thought as he heard that person say his name. He was even more shocked when he realized who owns that voice.

"_Polka?! Drat! What's she doing here?! Geez! This is not the right time!"_


	8. Nursing my partner

CHAPTER 8: Nursing my partner

Mikan was not able to sleep that night because something inside her was bothering her. She was pacing back and forth around her three star room.

"_Waaaahhh!!! I hate it when it's like this. Why do I have a bad feeling about something?" _Mikan kept on thinking and then she decided to go to someone else's room since she can't sleep yet.

"I know! I'll go to Hotaru's! Demo, maybe she's already asleep. And if I go there, I bet I'll just get hit by the Baka Gun or by the Baka Cannon if things get worse. I guess Anna and Nonoko are asleep at this time of night. Oh well, I guess I'll try Natsume's room then. He's always sleeps late at night."

She then stood up and proceeded to her partner's room. It was only a few steps away so she was able to get there easily without bumping into anything. When she got there, she knocked three times but no one answered. But instead of leaving, her instincts told her that she should stay so she opened the door and took a peek inside since the door was not locked.

"Natsume? Are you there? Are you still awake?" Mikan crept into his dark room since only moonlight provided some lights in his room by that time. Mikan then noticed that Natsume was not in the bed so she knew that he was really awake at that very moment.

Natsume was shocked when he heard Mikan's voice.

"What are you doing here Polka? Shouldn't you be asleep?" he said while trying his best to hide the pain that he's feeling.

"I couldn't fall asleep and for some reason I felt like I needed to go here. Why is it so dark in here anyway?"

"Baka, it's night time. What do you expect? Of course it would be dark since the lights are out. Now go back to your room and go to bed. I don't need someone to pester me around the whole night." Natsume answered back while panting as a bead of sweat started rolling down his forehead and apparently, Mikan noticed that he's having a hard time.

"Natsume? Are you alright? You don't sound too good to me." Mikan stated as she turned on the light. When brightness filled in Natsume's room, she was shocked to see some blood on the floor. She was even more shocked than ever to see that Natsume has a bleeding shoulder plus his body was covered with different cuts and other bruises.

"Oh my gosh! Natsume! You're injured! Your shoulder is bleeding like crazy! Why on earth didn't you tell me in the first place?!?" asked Mikan with a tint of worry written all over her face. "Did you have another mission tonight?"

"Tch. What do you think? Would I be in this state if I just played in a playground?" he shot back sarcastically. "And why would I tell you? Do I have to tell you everything that I have to do while I'm this stupid academy?"

"Because I'm your partner!"

"And what does that have to do with it? Just because you're my partner doesn't mean that I have to tell you whenever I have a mission."

"Because partners should look after each other! That's the rule, remember?""

"Whatever, now go back to your room."

"No I won't. You really should stop doing missions Natsume. You are having a hard time all because of this."

"Tch. If I had the chance, I would have stopped a long time ago and you know why I am taking up these stupid things. It's not like I'm doing it with my own free will."

"But you could get killed!"

"Baka. I told you to go. You don't have to stay here and lecture me around about my missions and all that crap. You're just making my ears bleed along with my stupid shoulder. I can handle myself."

"Yeah right. Say whatever you want but I won't leave this room of yours unless that shoulder of your stops bleeding. Where's your first aid kit around here?"

"I told you not to bother so you just leav– " but before he was able to finish his sentence, Mikan stopped him.

"Stop lecturing me and just tell me where that box is. Nothing will happen to you if you will still be stubborn. You could even die because of too much blood loss!"

Natsume just sighed in defeat. "Open the cabinet in the bathroom. You can find the kit on the upper left hand portion on the third division." And after a few searching portions, Mikan finally found the box. _"Geez! Natsume sure has a lot of stuff. Can he even use all of these things?" _she wondered.

"Don't worry, if you want me to leave this room that much then I will. But please let me bandage that wound. It might get infected. So just stay still. Okay? Oh, and just tell me if it hurts or something. I'll try to do this as painless as possible."

Natsume just kept quiet while she was doing all the necessary stuff to heal his wound such as the cleaning, bandaging and others. He was even amazed that Mikan's hand was so gentle and light. She could treat wounds more carefully than the nurse in the infirmary of the academy but there are times when he had to look away just to hide the pain.

"There! All done! Now you go get some sleep. You really need it. We still have classes tomorrow so you should rest." She said while assisting Natsume to go to his bed. She laid him down and tucked him in like a mom would do to her baby.

"Well, I guess I should be going now. Ja! Oyasumi Natsume!" she was heading right towards the doors when he heard him say something.

"Oi Polka Dots, thank you. I never knew that a person like you could actually know how to bandage a wound."

"No prob! I'm a klutz so I know very well how to clean wounds since I get them most of the time. And it's the least I can do since you always help a lot. Well, you should rest now. Bye!" she said with a wave. It was a good thing it was dark and that she didn't notice the blush that crept through Natsume's cheeks.

"So you're admitting that you're a klutz eh? Right Polka Dots? Or should I say, it's pink with laces today huh?"

"Whatever you pervert. Just go to bed already. I didn't tuck you in that bed of yours for nothing, you know. Now just shut your mouth and go to sleep. Goodnight Natsume!" she said with a smile as she left the room while turning off the lights.

"_Tch. Me? help her a lot? Do I really do that? All I remember is that I always tease her. Since when did I become THAT helpful to her?"_

And then, after a few minutes, they both fell asleep.


	9. My very surprising alice test results

CHAPTER 9: My very surprising Alice test results

The next day, Mikan did her daily morning routine. She was not getting late anymore since she didn't want to use her Alice just because Mr. Jinno punishing her with his Lightning Alice. When she reached the classroom, everyone was present already.

"Ohayo minna!" she greeted and then she sat to her seat.

"Ohayo Ruka-pyon! Natsume! Oh?! Are you feeling better?" she asked.

"Hn."

"Sakura! How dare you be so close to MY Natsume and Ruka?!? I'm the president of their fan club and I order you to leave them alone!" yelled Sumire

BAKA BAKA BAKA!

"Could you just shut up! I'm the only one allowed to yell at Mikan, got that? And FYI, Ruka's my boyfriend so don't you ever dare to say that you own him or else you would meet Baka Bazooka and Baka Cannon." Hotaru said with an emotionless tone. And then their teacher, Mr. Narumi, entered the classroom with the substitute teacher as well.

"Good morning my dear students! I have the results of the Alice test. The substitute teacher will hand you your result envelopes. I have to go now, Ja! Oh and by the way, Mikan-chan please come with me to the faculty room now."

"Hai sensei" she said as she stood up leaving the class not knowing that the eyes of her gang are looking at her worriedly.

"_Did I do something wrong? Why am I being called to the faculty room? I hope I won't get punished or something."_

"_Baka. I hope she'll be fine."_

"_Tch. What the heck did this idiot do this time?"_

"_Mikan-chan/sakura-san, please be safe."_

Once they reached the faculty room, Mikan sat in front of all of the teachers. Narumi gave her Alice test result and she read it. But being the innocent little Mikan that she is, she did not understand a little thing so Narumi has to explain all over again.

"Mi-chan, based from your results, you have 2 Alices. First the Nullification and the second is the Copy/Steal/Seal Alice. You might have inherited your 2nd Alice from your mom. And your Alice Type is the Type 5. It's similar to the 4th type but your Alice doesn't drain your lifespan, it only takes up your energy once you use it. Now do you understand?" asked Narumi with a smile.

"Hai. But could you kindly elaborate further the 5th Alice type?" and this time, Jinno was the one who explained it to her.

"It's just like the Alice type of Hyuuga Natsume. But in his case, his lifespan gets drained, and in your case, your energy will be drained. This means that you will be weak if you use too much of your Alice. There's also a caution to this Alice type. You should not overuse your Alice because Alice overuse could lead to instant death. Now do you understand Ms. Sakura?" explained Jinno

"So my 2nd Alice can steal, seal and copy other alices?"

"hai. We would also like to inform you that you are now transferred as a special star and that your Alice classes will be in the Dangerous Ability types."

"oh. Okay then." She replied. _"So I guess I won't be seeing everyone else in the special ability types." _She sadly thought,

"Here are your limiting devices." Narumi said while handling her earrings, necklaces, bracelets, and many more.

"Sensei, why so many? Natsume only uses I think two earrings but why do I have to use a whole lot of them? It's like you're giving me a whole accessory set."

"To avoid suspicion. Because your friends are very observant especially that Imai and Hyuuga. If they notice that you're wearing the same things every single day, they would probably know that they are limiting devices." Jinno explained.

"mi-chan, one more thing. Please don't tell the other students about this."

"Huh? But why?"

"Because it's supposed to be a secret that's why we called you here. You have very strong and rare alices and if the AAO knows about the power that you possess, they will haunt you and force you to join their organization. They would even hurt you just to let you join them." Jinno butted in.

"Okay then. But what will I tell Hotaru and the others if they ask me with questions? You know them. They can also easily sense if I'm lying or not. What do I have to do now sensei?" she asked.

"You will be transferred to your special star room tomorrow. As for your friends, just tell them that you were called here because of the improvement about your punctuality since you're not coming to school late again. You just have to act properly." Narumi answered.

"Ok then. Uhm, what about the Special Star thingy? What will I tell them?"

"since I am the head of the department and in charge of the star rankings, I will just announce it in class during our next meeting so you won't have to worry about that. Here are you keys to your room. Your things will be transferred there by the dorm robot." Explained Mr. Jinno.

"Okie dokie senseis. I guess I should get going now. Ja and arigato for everything!"

"Ok Mikan-chan. Ja! See you tomorrow in class."

"_geeze. I didn't know that I have two alices. Now I have to lie to Hotaru and the others if they start asking me many questions. Waaahh! What the heck?! I hate lying in the first place! Well, classes were over before I even left the faculty room." _Mikan was deep in thought while she was walking and her feet led her to the Sakura Tree. She even admired the solemnity of the whole place since it was so quiet and peaceful.


	10. Two talks with the same person

CHAPTER 10: two talks with the same person

"Huh? How did I get here?" Mikan asked herself since she realized that she reached the Sakura Tree.

"Because your idiotic feet brought you here. Baka. You were spaced out while walking." Mikan was wondering where the voice came from although she knew that it was from Natsume. And then out of the blue, Natsume jumped down from one of the tree branches.

"Oi Polka Dots, could you quit spacing out? It's irritating. Snap out of your little daydream. You even look more stupid than the usual stupid face that you already have."

"Could you stop calling me that!! I do have a name you know. Geez, you do know me for six years already and yet you can't even pronounce my name. And heck, it's just one syllable with five stupid letters!"

"Whatever, oi, what were you doing at the faculty room a while ago?"

"Eh? Oh that. It's nothing. I was just praised and congratulated by the teachers." With this statement, Natsume just cocked an eyebrow.

"Why in the crazy world would they congratulate an idiot like you? You can't even identify where in the world you're headed to when you're walking."

"Well, it's because they told me that I was improving when it comes to my punctuality since I don't get late anymore!" she said with a very big smile. _"Oh boy, I hate lying. Sorry Natsume but I have to. Sheesh. He's staring at me like that. He's not believing me! oh no! think Mikan! Think!"_

"And then Mr. Narumi also gave me my Alice result there since he forgot my envelope in his room. It got mixed with the other class so I still had to go and get it there. What were your results Natsume?"

"Hn. Still the same. How about you? Any improvements for an idiot?"

"_Good, there was a change in topic." _MIkan thought. "Well, still the same. Nothing special. Hahah."

"Tch. Typical for a baka."

"What did you say?!?!?!?"

"Tch. Now the baka is deaf too. Why? Got deaf with your own loud voice?" he shot back while smirking while walking back to his room.

"Why you big meanie!!! Get back here!!! NATSUUUUUUUMMMMEEEEEE!!!!"

"Whatever. I'm leaving since I came to that place to have some peace and quiet. And now that you're there, I might as well leave."

~IM~

**Sweetpetal/Glaringeyes has logged on.**

Glaringeyes: oi!

Sweetpetal: oh, hey Setsu

Glaringeyes: what's up?

Sweetpetal: nothing special.  how about you?

Glaringeyes: same

Sweetpetal: I'm kind of bored as of now.

Glaringeyes: me too.

Sweetpetal: you're really a man with a few words, setsu =))

Glaringeyes: I guess.

Sweetpetal: you really remind me of someone I know.

Glaringeyes: who?

Sweetpetal: never mind that one.  I guess you don't even know him.

Glaringeyes: hn.

Sweetpetal: hey, would it be okay if I ask you something?

Glaringeyes: Baka. You're already asking.

Sweetpetal: no. I mean, a different question. =))

Glaringeyes: shoot.

Sweetpetal: what would you if you knew that you have a very strong Alice all of a sudden when all your life you got used to a very simple Alice?

Glaringeyes: so, you got your Alice test result huh?

Sweetpetal: err, yeah. And the changes startled me.

Glaringeyes: I see.

Sweetpetal: so what would you do?

Glaringeyes: then use your Alice for the benefit of others.

Sweetpetal: how?

Glaringeyes: dunno.

Sweetpetal: uhm, what's your alice anyway?

"_should I tell her? But if I told her, she would definitely know who I am since I am the only one with the fire Alice in our grade level." _Natsume thought

Glaringeyes: it's a secret. But I'll give you a hint, it's an offensive type.

Sweetpetal: ok then. So maybe you're a DA type?

Glaringeyes: hn. How'd you know?

Sweetpetal: It's because I have a classmate that has an offensive type so I just guessed that you're in that class too.

Glaringeyes: I see.

Sweetpetal: But how do you use it to help others?

Glaringeyes: I'm a different type of guy so my opinion might vary with yours.

Sweetpetal: it's okay. Maybe you could help me.

Glaringeyes: I'm from the DA type class. And I use my Alice when I take missions. I take missions because I don't want my friends to be the ones doing it.

Sweetpetal: that's nice. So you really value your friends huh?

"_Doing missions just to help your friends huh? Whoa. He's also a man with few words. This guys really reminds me of Natsume. Hey wait, same speaking style, offensive type? Doing missions and a member of the DA class? Setsu really has a lot of similarities with Natsume Hyuuga. Could it be that? Naaaah. It can't be. Natsume won't even chat with a stranger."_

Glaringeyes: hn.

Sweetpetal: me too. I don't want them to get hurt or something like that.

Glaringeyes: I know what you mean.

Sweetpetal: thanks for answering my question though. 

Glaringeyes: whatever. You better go to sleep. It's getting late.

Sweetpetal: yeah. I think I should. Whoa, wait.

Glaringeyes: what's the matter?

Sweetpetal: hahah. Nothing. It's just that I've never chatted with you this long.   
glaringeyes: oh. I see.

Sweetpetal: well, I need to go to bed now. You should too. Ja, Setsu! Thanks again!

Glaringeyes: no problem, shontelle. Ja

Sweetpetal: oyasumi! Sweet dreams!

Glaringeyes: hn.

**Glaringeyes/sweetpetal has signed out.**


	11. Totally busted by my best friend

CHAPTER 11: Totally busted by my best friend

The next day, the student of class 6B still has a regular class. While waiting for their teacher, they are doing their own things. Some are chatting, some are playing with their Alice, and some are still drooling over Natsume and Ruka, and many more.

And then the beloved brunette of their class suddenly stepped in the room as she greeted everyone "Ohayo" with one of her bright smiles.

She already stopped the habit of hugging her best friend since she doesn't want to get hit by the baka gun every morning although she misses hugging her best friend a lot. Once she was done with her greetings, she headed to her seat right in between Natsume and Ruka.

"Mikan, what did you do at the faculty room yesterday?" asked her best friend as she was nearing Mikan's desk.

"Yeah, come to think of it you were not able to see you for the whole afternoon." Said Anna.

"What happened Mi-chan?" asked Nonoko.

"Nothing special guys. Mr. Narumi just congratulated me because I was not being late at school anymore and that they told to me to keep it up. And then at the same time, Mr. Narumi gave me my Alice test result since my envelope got mixed up in the other class so he just gave mine at the faculty room." Mikan explained. _"Ooohh. I just hope that they won't get suspicious. Hotaru is a pretty good observer after all." _Mikan silently prayed.

"Is that all?" Hotaru asked while cocking an eyebrow.

"uh-huh. There's absolutely nothing to worry about." She said with a smile.

But before Hotaru could ask another question, Mr. Narumi entered the room.

"_Phew! Saved by Mr. Narumi! I guess I would be totally busted if Hotaru would keep asking me stuff about what happened yesterday."_

"_There's something different from Mikan's eyes a while ago. She's definitely hiding something, but what could that be? I guess I should just ask her privately later whether she likes it or not." _Hotaru thought.

"Good morning my dear students! Today we will have a pop quiz about typical errors in grammar! I hope you still remember our previous lessons! Now get a sheet of paper and let's begin!" Narumi announced as moans and other groans may be heard from the whole class.

"Time's up! Please pass your papers whether you're finished or not. That's all for now my dear students! I just hope that the results of these papers are not disappointing as your last quiz. Adieu! Oh, and Mikan-chan, please come with me again." Said their teacher as he left while Mikan was trailing behind him.

"_How come Polka is always called to the faculty room? What the heck is going on here?"_

"_Uhm. I guess I might as well follow her secretly. That idiotic best friend of mine really is hiding something from me. and I will definitely find out what it is."_

"Ruka, you go ahead without me, I still have some business to attend to. See you by dinner, okay?" Hotaru said as she gave her boyfriend a peck on the cheek.

"Okay then, do you want me to pick you up at your room later?" Ruka asked.

"No thanks. Let's just meet at the dining hall. Ja!" and then Hotaru left.

"How about you Natsume?" Ruka asked his best friend

"I'll go somewhere quiet and read. You guys go ahead."

"Hey, Koko, Nonoko, Cupcake and I are going to Central Town. Ja!" and then they all bid their goodbyes.

~Faculty Room~

In the room, Mikan and Narumi were talking not knowing that Hotaru was outside listening to their conversation.

"Invention #134, the bat ears. Just wear these ears, you will be able to hear the conversation of other people even if there are hindrances such as doors and walls. Only sold for 5,000 rabbits." Hotaru explained to no one as she started listening to what Mikan and her teacher was talking about.

"How was it Mikan-chan? Were they suspicious or something?" asked Mr. Narumi

"I think Hotaru has some suspicions but I was saved from further questions when you stepped into the classroom." Mikan replied with a smile. And after a little while, a person wearing a black cloak with a white mask and an evil smirk appeared right before them.

"Persona." Mr. Narumi said with shock. "What are you doing here?"

"As you can see, this girl right here can be a very valuable asset to the academy. She might be even able to fight the AAO all along with her immense power. All she needs is the proper training and such. With the kind of training that's like Kuro Neko's, she will be able to fight all of them." Persona replied while eyeing Mikan who was currently scared to death.

"_So this is teacher that Natsume hates. Now I know why. Hey wait, training? Me? With him? No way! I don't wanna die earlier than expected! I've heard from Natsume that his trainings will make you a living hell." _Mikan screamed in thought while Hotaru's eyes were as big as saucers when she heard what Persona has said.

"She can't. She does not even know how to use her second Alice yet. And training would be very harsh for her if YOU will be the one to train her." Narumi answered.

"I'm sure she can keep up. She's a fast learner after all. If Hyuuga was able to do it, why can't she? She even has a more powerful Alice than Kuro Neko."

"You still can't do that." Narumi defended. He does not want his favorite student to suffer due to Persona's training

"So Ms. Sakura, since you're a special star and a DA type, you're now required to do missions as well. But since you don't know a single thing about your 2nd alice there would be no missions for now. Instead, I will teach you how to use it. Understood?" asked Persona.

"I understand. I already know your terms and other conditions." Mikan answered.

"_2__nd__ Alice? How come? Mikan only has the Nullification, so what could be the other one? So this is why she's always at the faculty room lately. They even plan on using her just like Natsume." _Hotaru asked in her thoughts.

"Demo, how do I use my other Alice?" she asked

"Simple. Just be in contact with someone and then recite 'seal/copy' and then you would be able to seal/copy the person's Alice. For you to steal an Alice, just be in contact with them and simply concentrate and then think of stealing the Alice Stone that the person has in his body." Explained Narumi

"Okay. Do I have to say that out loud or even just in thoughts?"

"Any would do. It would just be the same." Persona replied.

"Oh. Okay then. Can I go now?"

"Hai Mikan-chan. Just be careful okay? Especially with Koko. Tyr not to let him read your mind. And your new room is ready. Takahashi will lead you there after dinner." Narumi explained.

"Hai sensei. Arigato." And then she left the room. She was shocked when she heard someone speak from behind her.

"Mikan Shontelle Sakura, you have a lot of explaining to do. And I want every detail so don't you dare try lying to me because it will definitely won't work."

"_Mikan Shontelle? Uh-oh. The only one who calls me that when I'm in trouble is –"_

"Hotaru!!!" yelled a wide-eyed Mikan as she faced her best friend who has her hands folded over her chest while tapping one of her foot to ground.


	12. Start of using my second alice

CHAPTER 12: Start of using my second Alice

"Well? You do know that waiting is something that I don't want?" Hotaru demanded. "You better explain everything from the very start and you even think about lying if you don't want to face my Baka Cannon 3.5"

Mikan sighed in defeat since she knew that she could not hide anything from Hotaru. "Fine. I'll explain everything. It all started when – "

"Wait. Don't talk here. Someone might here. Let's go to your room." Hotaru said as she grabbed Mikan's hand while dragging her to her best friend's room. "Ok, we're here. Now you could continue. Oh, and by the way, nice room. Although you should be extra careful since you're on the same floor with Natsume."

"I think he lives in the room in front of mine. It's kind of lonely here since only Natsume and I live here. Have a seat." She replied.

And then they were sitting on the couch while Mikan explained practically everything to her best friend. She started explaining from the very day that the Alice results were given until to the part where Hotaru heard in the faculty room a while ago.

BAKA BAKA BAKA!

"ITAI!!! Mou! What was that for? I already told you every single detail that you wanted so why do you still have to hit me with the gun? It hurts, you know." Mikan cried

"That's for being an idiot and for trying to keep something this important from me. You should know that you could always trust me and that I won't tell anyone else." Hotaru explained as emotionlessly as possible.

"I know, that's why I'm so sorry. I just hid it from you guys since I don't want you to worry." Mikan apologized.

"Baka. Didn't you even realize that I would worry even more if something bad happened to you and yet we don't know a single thing happening to you?" she said with a tint of worry and concern visible in her voice.

And then an arrow suddenly came flying through her special star room and then hit the wall. Mikan took it and she read the note attached to it.

"Ms. Sakura, meet me at the Northern Forest later at 9:00. Do try to be punctual because I HATE late students more than ever. Persona."

"Are you going?" the other one asked.

"Yeah. Don't worry. You heard very well that there will be no missions for me for the mean time so I'll be fine. Maybe Persona-sensei will just teach me on how to use my other Alice and then some attacks and dodges."

"Okay. But don't do anything stupid. Got that?"

"Hai Hotaru! And thank you for keeping this a secret." She said.

"Well, let's get going. It's almost dinner time and I'm hungry."

"Hai!"

So they had their dinner and the typical stuff. Let's go fast forward to the part where Mikan is in the forest.

At the Northern Forest, Mikan was able to get to her meeting place with Persona on time.

"Persona-sensei? Are you here?" she asked.

"Very good Ms. Sakura. You came in earlier than expected." And then he suddenly appeared right in front of Mikan.

"Eeeeep!! Don't do that sensei! You scared me to death!" she screamed.

"_Damn. Kuro Neko is right. She can really make you ears bleed." _Persona thought.

"Whatever. Let's proceed shall we? I have two people with me. they possess the Teleportation Alice and the Float Alice."

"Okie Dokie Sensei. But what are we going to do with those people? Are they going on a mission?" she asked innocently as the others just sweat dropped.

"No Ms. Sakura. Try to use your second Alice on these two."

"Which part? The copy, the seal, or the steal? But please don't let me use steal. It's too harsh. I can't afford to steal a person's Alice." She said

"Just use the copy."

"Alrighty then sensei." She said with a smile and then she took the hands of the two guys. _"Copy the Alice of these persons." _She thought through her mind. Then she felt that she has increased in her power.

"Sensei, I think I did it. What do I do now?" she questioned her teacher.

"Good. Now try to make the things float around you and then teleport this rock to the area near the lake." He instructed.

"How?"

"Just concentrate then do your thing. It's that easy." He said. _"Sheesh. This girl really has a lot of questions. I can't even believe that she's one of the smartest kids in this academy." _

And then Mikan made Persona float while she was teleporting the rock to the lake.

"Persona-sensei, is this alright? I think I got the hang of it." She said while still making Persona float in the air.

"That would be it for now. Wait for further instructions. Your first mission is to copy as many alices as you can. Your next training will be about attacking and dodging. Now would you put me down now?!" he said in a very annoyed tone of voice and then Mikan finally realized that she was still controlling her teacher who was floating in mid air.

"Oh. Okay. Sorry about that sensei. I kinda forgot that you're the one that I used my Float Alice on." Mikan answered as she chuckled while she was putting Persona down. "I'll be going back sensei. Ja! Oyasuminasai!" she waved and then ran back to her dorm.


	13. A little open up to my best friend

CHAPTER 13: A little open-up to my best friend

It was already passed 10:00pm when Mikan has finished with Persona and she doesn't feel sleepy yet so she decided to walk around until she reached the Sakura Tree.

"Oh. Might as well sit here for a while since I don't feel like sleeping yet." And then she sat down under the tree while leaning on its trunk not knowing that the fire caster was sitting on the other side.

"Oi Polka Dots, what are you doing here?" he asked.

"I was about to ask you that same question, Natsume. Why are you still up anyway?"

"Baka. You haven't answered my question yet."

"Okay then. If that's what makes you happy, I'm here because I'm not yet sleepy. There. How about you?"

"Hn."

They just sat there in silence until Mikan fell asleep. Since Natsume doesn't know where Mikan's current room is, he just woke her up.

"Oi Polka! Wake up!" he yelled and then keeps on shoving her but she didn't wake up yet. So he did the only thing he can possibly do. He burned her hair.

"HEY!!! You big meanie! Why'd you do that?" Mikan yelled as she woke up.

"Whatever Polka. Now go to your room." He said while heading back to his dorm.

The next day, things are still same as the usual. And then their teacher made his entrance with a pirouette and a grand jete in a pink frilly attire with Mr. Jinno beside him.

"Ohayo my dear students!" he greeted. "ok class, I have an announcement so please settle down and be seated. I'm sure you will be very excited with this." He said with a twinkle in his eye.

"Hurry up Mr. Narumi! And we will not be excited about a dance so get on with it." Yes. Our mind reader read their teacher's mind already.

"As Koko has said, there will be a Halloween dance this November. You won't have to worry about the costumes because the school will provide them for you just like when you have the Last Dance. But there's a catch. You will not be able to come to the Dance if you do NOT have a partner. Are there any questions?"

Mikan shot her hand up.

"Yes Mi-chan?"

"Is everyone else involved?"

"Of course. As long as you have a partner that is. Any more?"

The class kept quiet so he finally spoke. "Since there's no one asking stuff, I'll get going now. There will be a free period for all of you for you to get a chance to choose your own partners! Ja!" he explained as he left the room with another pirouette. And then it was Mr. Jinno's turn to speak.

"As the one in charge of the star ranking of the students, I would like to infrom all of you especially Miss Sakura that she will be a Special Star from now on."

"Excuse me sensei," Sumire raised her hand. "How caome that brat gets promoted while she doesn't even do something special?"

"She got promotes to a special because she can fully control her Alice, she has exceptionally high grades and then she was able to get rid of her oversleeping habits. She has made quite a lot of improvements."

And after a few more question and answer portions and congratulating portions that Mikan has received, Mr. Jinno finally left the room.

"Yay! A dance! This will be exciting! Ne, Natsume, who are you going with?" she asked the flame caster who was apparently trying to get some sleep while covering his face with his manga.

"No one."

"Eh? You're not allowed to join unless you have a partner."

"Who the hell cares. I hate dances anyway." He said as he stood up. "You coming Ruka?"

"Hai." His best friend followed while waving at Hotaru signaling her that he woud be leaving. The two best friends were sitting on the branches of the tree.

"Natsume, why do you always have to be too harsh on her?" Ruka asked while his best friend just raised an eyebrow.

"Too harsh on who? I'm like this to everyone else and you know that very well." He answered.

"And I know you too well, Natsume. I mean, c'mon. why don't you just admit and then tell Mikan that you love her. I think it won't be hard. You see, Mikan has a very kind heart. She won't know unless you tell her."

"A kind heart? Tch. Dense would be a more appropriate term if you ask me."

"Why don't you just tell her to get it over with? I even admire you because you can hide your feelings for her for this long. It's been six years already. And soon enough, we will graduate from this academy. Do you want to leave without even telling her?"

"Tch, it's easier said than done, Ruka."

"So you prefer teasing her every single day? Letting her get chased by her fan boys most of the time? Just seeing her laughing and enjoying with other guys?"

"Hey, don't push it. This tree might turn into crisps if you continue saying things like that."

"Then why don't you tell her? I was able to tell Hotaru right?"

"I'm not even sure if that little girl has feelings for me. if there is, I'm sure it would be hate since I always tease her." Natsume explained.

"So the great Natsume Hyuuga, the a.k.a Kuro Neko, the most powerful and get anything he wants is afraid of rejection from a Mikan Sakura?" teased Ruka while he received a death glare from Natsume.

"Don't worry buddy. Just think about this, one moment of embarrassment is better than a lifetime of regret. Just forget about your pride and reputation just for one moment and then tell her. Whatever her answer may be, just get ready for it. If it's mutual with your feelings, then good for you, if not, at least you were able to tell her how you felt." Ruka said while he was heading down the tree. "Well, I'll get going now. I still have to pick up Hotaru at her lab. Ja, Natsume!"

"Oi Ruka!" Natsume yelled while going down the tree and the Ruka turned his head to his direction. "Thanks. I'll think about it." He said with a little smile on his face. With that, Ruka just left.

"_Goodluck Natsume. I know Mikan has the same feelings for you too. She just doesn't know it yet. I hope you can tell her." _Ruka thought.


	14. Central town and a phone message

CHAPTER 14: Central Town and a phone message

After three days, Mikan was able to copy a lot of Alices just like the Invention, Fire, Cooking, Chemistry, Illusion, Mind reading, Levitation, Ice, Shadow Manipulation, Elemental, Flying, Animal Pheromone, Voice Pheromone, Barrier, Speed, Elastic, and Force field.

Although she gets a bit tired of using the CSS Alice at first, she got the hang of it. She doesn't have too much of a hard time since Hotaru is always there for her whenever she needed help.

One fine Saturday morning, the gang has decided to go to Central Town that afternoon.

"Hey guys! Would you like to go to Central Town this afternoon?" Asked Nonoko.

"I thought you have part time jobs?" asked Yuu.

"Anna and I have day offs today." She answered back.

"Ok then. That's fine with me." Hotaru said.

"Yay! I'll come too!" Mikan added. "It's been a long time since I last went to Central Town and I also want to eat some Howalon!"

They have to meet at the bus stop at four in the afternoon since Hotaru still has a few things to fix with her inventions and stuff and Yuu still has a meeting for the class representatives.

That afternoon, all of them are present except for their brunette.

"Where could that baka be?" Hotaru mumbled.

"Probably running her way here since she realized that she was late." Natsume replied.

"There she is!" Nonoko answered.

"MI-chan! over here!"Anna yelled while waving.

"You girls are really excited." Commented Yuu

"Of course! It's been a while since we last went to Central Town for a stroll or something since we always go there for our work. And we really miss that place a lot!" the 2 girls chorused except for the Ice Queen.

"Hotaru, what are you going to do there?" asked a panting Mikan

"I'll buy some materials for my inventions and if there would still be time I will sell the latest pictures of Ruka here." She answered while Ruka was shocked.

"What pictures?"

And then Hotaru held out a picture of Ruka sleeping while wearing a blue striped pajama and hugging a brown teddy bear while sucking his thumb.

"Kawaii!" the three girls squealed.

"Tch. Goodluck Ruka. Looks like your exposure would be too much for today." Natsume said

"Wh-where did you get that? You really don't plan on selling those right?" he nervously asked her beloved girlfriend. _"Please say no, Hotaru. please say no." _Ruka silently prayed.

"I have my sources. And yes, I do plan on selling them. Now shall we go? The bus is here already."

They all boarded the bus and sat with their boy/girlfriend. Since Mikan and Natsume do not have a pair yet, they were the ones seated next to each other.

Since everyone else is silent, Mikan fell asleep and then her hear suddenly fell on Natsume's shoulder.

"Oi! Baka! Get off!" he hissed but to no avail, Mikan didn't budge at all. Natsume just gave a small sigh. _"This Polka. Tch. I guess she would stay like this until the trip is over. She better not drool on my shirt."_

He thought and then he heard someone chuckle.

"Don't worry Natsume. I'm sure you're enjoying anyway." Complimented our mind reader.

"Enjoying what?" asked Yuu as he turned to face Koko. As Koko received a death glare from the fire caster, he just made an excuse.

"Ano… Uhm.. I read Natsume's mind and e said that Central Town is just another typical thing and nothing of the ordinary. He was even wondering why he came with us." He said with a nervous laugh.

"Don't worry Natsume. It would be better going with us anyway rather than staying in your room doing nothing." Reassured Ruka.

"Hn."

Once they got there, Mikan immediately bought some Fluff Puffs. And then they roamed around. After visiting at almost every single shop in Central Town, Nonoko proceeded to the pharmacy while Anna went to the Bakery. While walking through its busy streets, Mikan's phone beeped. She looked at it and there was a message.

**From: Persona-sensei**

**Message: Ms. Sakura, you need to report to me at the usual meeting place right this moment. I expect you to be here on or before thirty minutes since I currently found out that you're out with your friends. See you there. Ja.**

"What's the matter Mikan?" asked Hotaru while Mikan just handed Hotaru her phone so that she may read Persona's message. She just gave a small nod as a signal that she can go now.

"Oi Mikan, I thought you have to meet Tsubasa and Misaki now? You should get going. It's already getting late. Better go ahead if you still wanna see them there." Hotaru told Mikan with a voice loud enough for everyone to hear. _"Just play along okay? I'll make it easier for you to leave so that they won't suspect a thing."_

Mikan was able to read Hotaru's mind so she just played along. "Oh! Thanks for reminding me Hotaru! I almost forgot about that!"

"Tch. It's typical for a baka to forget things." Natsume shot back with a smirk.

"Why you!!! You're so lucky that I have to leave now!!! Well then, I better get going. Ja minna! See you later at dinner!" and then she left.

"Ja Mikan-chan/Sakura-san!" replied her friends.

"_Mikan, please be safe. I don't trust that guy. I hope you won't do stupid things." _Hotaru thought.

"Hey Natsume! Where are you going?" asked Ruka as he noticed that his best friend was leaving.

"Somewhere else. You go on without me. I don't wanna ruin your moment together and I more likely don't want to see the two of you doing mushy and cheesy stuff right in front of me." he said while waving his hand and walking away from Hotaru and Ruka.


	15. Taking over Natsume's place

CHAPTER 15: Taking over Natsume's Place

Since Mikan has no time to wait for the bus to arrive, she just teleported herself to where they usually meet. And in an instant, she was zapped to the heart of the Northern Forest.

"Good job my little one. You came earlier than expected. Looks like you really have full control over your Alices." Persona suddenly appeared right in front of her. "So, how many and what are the Alices that you have copied so far these past three days?"

"Well, as of now, I have the Invention, Fire, Cooking, Chemistry, Illusion, Mind reading, Levitation, Ice, Shadow Manipulation, Elemental, Flying, Animal Pheromone, Voice Pheromone, Barrier, Speed, Elastic, and Force field. Is that enough sensei?" Mikan answered while Persona was shocked. Lucky for him that he has his mask on.

"_This would be better than I thought. In no time, this little girl would be ready to take missions." _He thought. "Very good. That's even more than enough. But if you still have a chance, continue to copy Alices while you can."

"Okie dokie sensei. But why?"

"Once you have many Alices and that you are able to control then properly, you're ready for some training and then you could probably go to some missions." He answered.

"Missions? Are those the ones that Natsume does?" Mikan asked again.

"Yes."

"I don't know about that sensei. Judging from how Natsume comes back after a mission, it would be very sure that those are very dangerous." She answered with a voice with a tint of hesitation.

"Missions are quite risky Ms. Sakura. But you do want to help Natsume right?"

"Hai. But what do I have to do with that?"

"If you start training and be able to do missions as early as possible, there would be lesser missions for Hyuuga to accomplish, which means that he would be using his Alice less. And therefore, his lifespan would be prolonged. Do you understand?" he explained.

"Hai." She answered. _"If I take missions, it would be rough on my part. But, in that case, I would be able to protect my friends, especially Natsume. I can't let him use his Alice too much because he might die. *sigh* I guess I should accept sensei's offer. And I bet that if I refuse, he will still force me to do it anyway."_

"Have you made up your mind my little one?" Persona asked

"Hai sensei. But I have a condition if you would let me go to missions."

"And what would that be my little kitten?"

"I will take over Natsume's missions. You won't let Natsume do any more missions and don't you dare lay a single finger on my friends. Got that?"

"Agreed. Very well then. You will start you training as soon as possible. I will inform the higher-ups about this."

"And when would this as soon as possible be? I would like to start now if you please." She said with one of her smiles.

"As you wish my kitten. As of now, I would train you how to control the fire Alice. Shall we begin?"

"Hai!"

"Now, open you palm and then concentrate on making a fire ball. Just think that you want to burn something." And with that, Mikan was able to make a fireball easily. "Now, concentrate once more to make it bigger and then smaller." He continued.

Mikan closed her eyes and did what she was told. "Yipee! I did it! What's next sensei?"

"Very good. You may extinguish the fire now. Let's proceed your training when it comes to attacking and dodging. Now, dodge all of my punches and other attack and then try giving me a few kicks and punches as well." He instructed as he started attacking. He punched Mikan and she got hit.

"Tsk. You should be alert at all times my little kitten. Never let your guard down for the enemy can attack anytime he wants and in any way that he wants once he gets a chance. Never show any sign of weakness and keep focused."

"Hai sensei!"

And then they started attacking each other again until Mikan fully got the hang of it. She was able to dodge every punch and kick that Persona gives very gracefully. She was also able to beat up Persona which is very visible from the cuts and bruises on his body.

"That would be all. Looks like you are able to fight pretty well. You're indeed a fast learner. If you're able to control the fire Alice,that would be easier for you to control the other offensive types since they are most likely the same in usage. You may go now. And by the way, here's your mask. Your mission alias would be Hazel Kitten. Once you wear the mask, you'll have a different physical appearance to protect your identity. And your other name would be Akane Takahashi." He said while handing Mikan a mask which has a format of a cat's eye. The mask can only cover the eye portion of her face and it also has some Alice stones which were engraved on it and then disappeared. And then Mikan disapperared as well and teleported herself to their dorm.

Upon arriving at her room, she was already tired and she also has quite a lot of minor wounds from the fighting training that she had with Persona. She opened the door to see a worried Hotaru sitting on her couch [patiently waiting for her arrival.

"Mikan, daijobou desu ka?"

"Hai Hotaru. How did you get in here?"

"I have my ways. Now let's get going and heal those wounds shall we? We don't want that to get infected plus our friends will get worried if they noticed that you have wounds coming out from nowhere."

"Thank you, Hotaru." she replied while Hotaru was tending to her wounds and all of her bruises.

In a span of fifteen minutes, Mikan's wounds were all healed as if nothing ever happened to her at all. There were no traces of blood and no scars on her precious and sensitive skin.

"Whoa. Hotaru, you can already be a burse at this state. How did you do this?"

"Baka. And I thought you knew that we took first aid lessons together when we were kids." She replied. "Now, you should go to bed. It's pretty late and you're really tired. You should get some rest. Ja. Oyasumi Mikan."

"Hai. Oyasumi Hotaru. Thank you very much again."


	16. Talking to my friends

CHAPTER 16: Talking to my friends

Mikan decided to go to her best friend's room since she wants to tell her about her upcoming missions. She didn't want to hide things from her, and if she did, Hotaru is bound to know one way or another.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

"Who is it?"

"It's me Hotaru. Could I talk to you for a sec?" Mikan asked as Hotaru opened the door.

"Come in." she said and they sat on the couch. "What is it? Did that stupid teacher hurt you?"

"No. I just came to tell you that I will be doing some training from now on and then I would be doing missions in the future." She explained

BAKA BAKA BAKA

Hotaru fired her baka gun but Mikan was able to dodge them all. _"Whoa. She's really been training."_

"Please understand Hotaru. I did it for all of you because I know that if I refuse the offer of sensei he would hurt all of you. And this would also be a way to help Natsume to stop using his Alice too much." Mikan continued.

"Baka. What if you overuse your Alice?"

"I will just lose some of my energy. After a few days, it'll be back again. I just don't want Natsume to die early." She said in a low tone.

"Baka. What I meant was the Alice overuse, the last caution about your 5th type Alice. I don't want you to die as well." Hotaru replied.

"I'll be fine. I have limiting devices to prevent me from using my Alice too much. Just trust me on this one okay?"

Hotaru held a sigh. "Fine. Just inform me everytime you would meet that stupid teacher or if you have a mission or something."

"Thanks for understanding Hotaru!" Mikan squealed as she gave Hotaru a hug. Hotaru just let her to be hugged since she missed Mikan's hugs after quite some time. "I better get going. i still need to change into my jammies. Ja Hotaru! Oyasuminasai!"

And she left while gently closing the door. _"I'm so lucky to have a best friend like Hotaru. I just hope that everything else will really be alright."_

Mikan was able to change into her pink pajamas with Sakura prints all over it. Since it was just 8:00 pm, she decided to log her IM account on just in case Setsu was OL.

**Sweetpetal has logged on**

"_Oh! Setsu is OL! Yey! We can talk again."_

Sweetpetal: :-h

Glaringeyes: hn.

Sweetpetal: how're ya doing?

Glaringeyes: fine. I guess

Sweetpetal: what's the I guess for?

Glaringeyes: betsuni

Sweetpetal: o c'mon. you can tell me. it's not like I will spill to other people about the things we're talking about.

Glaringeyes: I just sort of miss someone. She's been busy lately.

Sweetpetal: who's that she? Your girlfriend?

Glaringeyes: no. She's a friend of mine.

Sweetpetal: and let me guess, you like her don't you?

"_What?! Am I that easy to read? Even this Shontelle girl can tell and yet that baka cannot."_

Glaringeyes: hn. How'd you know

Sweetpetal: I just know.  have you told her?

Glaringeyes: no. she's dense to notice.

Sweetpetal: just tell her. It won't hurt.

Glaringeyes: hn. When the right time comes, I guess. How bout you? How's life?

Sweetpetal: well, I've been busy lately.

Glaringeyes: bout what?

Sweetpetal: nothing special. I've been doing things to help my friends. 

Glaringeyes: hn. How about your love life?

Sweetpetal: don't have one. but I do like a certain someone.

Glaringeyes: have you told him?

Sweetpetal: eh? It would be weird if I would be the one telling him. Shouldn't it be the other way around?

Glaringeyes: hn. But there are some cases where girls are the ones telling the guy they like.

Sweetpeatl: really? Could you give me one case?

Glaringeyes: hn. Natsume Hyuuga would be one. His fan girls tell him that they love him every single day.

Sweetpetal: I guess that's one. hey, how did you know that?

Glaringeyes: it's a typical thing in his life. I see that dreadful event almost every day.

Sweetpeta: really? So I guess you're in the same class as I am since Natsume only gets bothered by his fan girls every morning in the classroom.

"_So, she's really my classmate since she knows that fact. Tch. Then how come I don't know a Shontelle from any of the girls in my class?" _Natsume thought.

"_Who could Setsu really be? I'm pretty he's from my class but I don't even know anyone from my classmates with that name." _Mikan thought.

Glaringeyes: I guess you could put it that way. But I don't know a shontelle from my class

Sweetpetal: and I don't know a setsu from my class either. Who's your first teacher tomorrow morning?

Glaringeyes: Jinno

Sweetpetal: me too! I guess we really are from the same class after all.

Glaringeyes: hn.

Sweetpetal: oh. gotta go Setsu. I'm sleepy so I guess I'll call it a day. Ja!

**Sweetpetal has signed out**

"_Hn. Who is this girl? She reminds me of Polka thought. Let's see. A 1__st__ year high school student, hates math, cries because of a stupid injection, and I guess she's a cheerful one too since she puts smileys every time and she's even in the same class as I am. Huh? What the?! Her descriptions are just like Polka Dots. But it can't be. She easily knew that I like the girl I was talking about a while ago and Polka is way too dense to notice that." _Natsume thought.

"Tch. Why am I even thinking of things like this? Better go to sleep." And then he signed out his IM and went to bed.


	17. Meeting my room neighbor

CHAPTER 17: Meeting my room neighbor

It was still about three weeks more to go before the Halloween Dance and yet there are already a whole lot of fan girls surrounding around Natsume and a same number of fan boys that are swooning around Mikan. They would have gone to Hotaru and Ruka too but they do not want to face the wrath of the baka gun nor the contant pecking of the crows on the top of their heads.

"Natsume-sama, please go to the Halloween dance with me!"

"Natsume-sama, don't mind that other girl! Please choose me!"

"No! I'm a better dancer so you should just go with me!"

These are the lines that are bombarding the ears of Natsume. The squealing and screaming fan girls just doesn't know when to stop. And with that, these girls end up crying all because of one simple reason – their precious hair got burned.

"_Tch. Stupid fan firls. They really don't know when to stop." _

After burning the hairs on their heads, he headed back towards his favorite Sakura Tree to get some peace and quiet since he knew very well that unless the freaking dance is over; his fan girls will never stop chasing him whenever they have a chance even if their hairs or skirts are at stake.

"Hey Natsume, where are you going?" asked Ruka.

"Anywhere away from here. Those girls are really annoying the hell out of me. Wanna come?"

"Err, no thanks, I still have some business to attend to." He stated while keeping an eye on his girlfriend while preparing himself to call his animal friends just in case a fan boy gets near her.

"Whatever. I'm leaving. Ja."

He headed towards his favorite spot and then started reading his manga.

"_I wonder where could that Polka be? She usually comes to bother me whenever I am here." _ And just as soon as he had that thought, he heard something.

"Mikan-sama! Go to the dance with me!"

"Mikan-sama! I love you! Will you go out with me?!"

Natsume took a look on his left side and he saw some fan boys who were chasing Mikan all around the campus. Mikan was going a bit ahead of them. Mikan kept running for her dear life until she felt someone grab her arm and the next thing she knew she was at a branch on the Sakura Tree.

"Geez. Now I know how you feel Natsume. But thanks for bringing me up here."

"Hn. Whatever Polka. Why don't you just choose a partner to get this over and done with?"

"I don't know. I just feel like choosing one of my fan boys as my partner for the dance. How about you Natsume? Do you have a partner already?" she asked while staring at him.

"No. I don't even plan on going to that stupid event." He answered as he looked the other way to hide his blush that was creeping to his cheek. _"Darn it! Why does she have to look at me like that!"_

"Oh, I see." Mikan said in a low tone. She really wanted to go to the dance with Natsume but knowing that he really doesn't want to join the dance, her heart sank. "Uhm, I guess I should get going now. The boys are not here anymore. Thanks again for saving me. Ja!" she said as she jumped down gracefully from the tree branch.

"_What the? Since when did Polka learn to jump like that?" _he thought as he was left there on the tree branch dumbfounded upon seeing Mikan land gracefully on the ground. After a little while, he decided to go back to his room since he was done reading his manga.

Natsume was walking down the empty halls of the corridor since not much resides on that floor since there are only a few special stars in the academy. He was about to enter his room when he noticed that a certain person came out from the room right in front of his.

"Tch. Lucky me, of all the people who would be in front of my room, it would be Polka Dots." He stated sarcastically.

"_Oh yeah. That reminds me that Natsume is a special star too. Looks like we're the only ones who live in this floor." _She thought. "Well, I guess you should get used to it, Natsume." She said with one of her smiles.

"I can't even tolerate the thought that you became a Special Star. So that means that I will never get used to the fact that you live right in front of my room."

"Well, there's nothing more that we can do about that. You should just deal with it whether you like it or not." She replied. "Oh, that reminds me, what are you doing here anyway? I thought you would just stay there by your tree?"

"I already finished my book so I came to get a new one."

"Okie dokie. You should go in now." She said as she waved goodbye. _"Great. Another problem. What if there would come a time that he might see me after a mission? I guess Hotaru's right. I should be extra careful._

She was taking a walk around the academy while her phone vibrated, indicating that she has a message.

**From: Persona-sensei**

**Message: hazel kitten, meet me at the Northern Forest at 10:00pm later. You have another training session. But this time, you have someone else to train you.**

"_Someone else would be training me today? Who could that be? Oh well, I will just find out later. I might as well tell Hotaru about this." _She thought so she texted Hotaru about it.

**To: Hotaru**

**Message: Hello Hotaru! just want to tell you that Persona-sensei texted me a while ago informing me that I have another training session later and that someone else would train me too. **

And after a few minutes, her phone vibrated again as she received a reply from Hotaru.

**From: Hotaru**

**Message: Ok. I'll be there waiting at your room as usual. Be careful, okay? And make sure that Hyuuga doesn't see you when you leave and return to your room later.**

And with that, she decided to go back to her room to have some rest before going to her training later.

NATSUME'S POV

He was searching his book shelf on what manga he would be reading next when he received a text message from someone he detested the most.

**From: Persona**

**Message: Kuro Neko, I expect you to be at the Northern Forest later by 10:00pm. You have some training to do with someone. I will also introduce you to the newest member of the DA class. Ja.**

"_Training and a new member huh? What the heck is this stupid dimwit of a teacher up to this time?"_


	18. My training and first mission

CHAPTER 18: My training and first mission

That night, Natsume went to their meeting place ten minutes earlier still wearing his uniform but with his limiting mask on.

"You're early my black cat." Persona said while appearing behind one of the trees. "In a just a few minutes, you will meet a new member of the DA class. You two will train each other."

Natsume just kept quiet and then a bright white light suddenly appeared in front of them as a girl about Natsume's age appeared as well. She has long waist-line straight jet black hair with a blue hair clip on the upper right side of her head. She was wearing a white cat mask which only covered her eyes.

"_Tch. A girl? How am I supposed to train with a girl? Can she even pick up a fight?"_

"Just right on time my little kitten." Said Persona. "Kuro neko, meet Hazel Kitten. She's the newest member of our class and she's been training with me for quite some time. And as of now, I want you to train each other."

"_So this is the different identity that sensei was talking about a few days ago. I guess this would do so that Natsume won't recognize me. Because if he did recognize me, it would be definitely hard for me." _Mikan thought. "Nice to meet you Kuro-chan. I'm Akane Takahashi." She said with a bright smile.

"_Tch. This girl smiles too much. She reminds me of Polka though." _Natsume thought while Mikan was able to read her mind. He just answered with a simple "Hn."

"_Uh-oh, I better now act my true self when I'm with him. He might realize that I'm Mikan. I better be careful."_

"Now, shall we begin?" continued Persona. "You two will attack each other with all of what you have. You may use your Alice and you may attack physically if you want to. The training will be over once one of you cannot fight anymore."

"Oi Takahashi, what's your Alice?" asked Natsume

"You will soon find out Kuro-chan. and you can just call me Akane. Takahashi is kinda long." Mikan answered as she started attacking Natsume with punches but Natsume quickly dodged them.

And then their training began. Natsume started forming fireballs and then threw them at Akane while she just dodged them all gracefully. "Tch. Oi. Nothing will happen if you'll just dodge everything."

And with that, Mikan formed ice daggers with her Ica Alice and started hitting Natsume. _"Tch. The Ica Alice huh? This will be a piece of cake." _Natsume just made a fire wall all around him so that the ice won't reach him. But little did he know that Akane was right above her. Natsume got entangled with vines and he was struggling to get out.

"What the? You have two Alices?" Natsume said out loud.

"One thing that Persona-sensei told me was to never let my guard down and be alert for everything." Akane answered. Natsume just concentrated and then burnt the vines away. "Tch. You should know better that using filthy grasses on me." he said with a smirk.

And then their fight continued. Both of them are fairly good in battling each other. After a few minutes, they were both panting while their bodies have a lot of bruises and their clothing has torn parts.

"Ok, that would be enough. I would declare this battle a tie. You may go now Kuro Neko. And as for you Hazel Kitten, please remain for a while for further instructions." And then Natsume leapt from tree to tree leaving the two of them.

"wow *pant*. I *pant* never knew *pant* that Natsume *pant* is *pant* that good *pant* when it *pant* comes to *pant* fighting." Mikan said in between pants.

"Very good performance my little kitten. It seems that you're ready for your first mission." Persona said. "But before all the mission details, how many new Alices have you copied so far?"

"Uhm, I have the Spell Casting, Doppelganger, Weather, Lightning, Healing and pain transfer, Invisibility, Through, Divination, and X-ray vision." She replied while still catching her breath.

"Good. Now, your first mission is to save a girl named Aoi Hyuuga. She is a two star with the Fire Alice. She's held captive by the AAO ever since the time she was discovered to have an Alice. Kuro Neko and I even attempted on saving her together but our Alices combined are not even enough. And with your Alice, there will be a high possibility that she will be saved."

"Aoi Hyuuga? Fire Alice? Is she the younger sister of Natsume that Ruka was talking about a few years ago?" she asked.

"Hai. It seems that she's also one of the main reasons why Natsume does missions because he really wants to save her." He continued. "If you're able to save Aoi, Natsume will really stop from doing his missions since he has no more reason to do so and since you will take over his place."

"I understand sensei. When will my mission be?"

"It would be three days from now so that you may still be able to copy a few more Alices. Before you leave, please heal all of your cuts and bruises."

"Hai sensei!" she answered as a placed her hand on top of her body parts which has bruises and other cuts. And then a green light glowed and after a little while, she was completely healed but she suddenly felt sleepy. "I'm done healing them sensei, but how come I suddenly felt like sleeping?"

"The Healing Alice requires a lot of energy that's why you suddenly felt weak. You may now return to your room and get some rest. You have to save your energy for your upcoming mission." And with that he vanished as Mikan teleported back to her room.

"Mikan! Daijobou?!" asked a worried Hotaru.

"I'm fine Hotaru, just a little – " she wasn't able to finish her sentence when she suddenly collapsed. It was a good thing that Hotaru was able to catch her right on time. Hotaru then took out an invention that looks like a thermometer.

"Invention #212: the Energy Meter. It measures the amount of energy that a person has in his body. Specially made for people who do missions. The full energy is 100. Once a person with a 5th type Alice just like Mikan reached a level below 50, it indicates that she lost too much energy already. Only sold for 10,000 rabbits." She explained to no one as she laid Mikan down on her king sized bed. After a minuted, a constant beeping was heard. "67%" Hotaru read.

"Get some sleep, Mikan. We still have class tomorrow." She said as she tucked her best friend in. as she was leaving the room, she heard Mikan mumble something. "Arigato, Hotaru. oyasuminasai."

"Oyasuminasai as well Mikan." And then she lightly closed the door and headed ypwards her room.

NATSUME'S POV

"_Who could that Akane Takahashi be? How could she be a multi-alice user?" _Natsume thought as he also drifted to dream land.


	19. A very sleepy & shocking day

CHAPTER 19: A very sleepy and shocking day

The next day, Mikan still tired from what happened last night but she still went to class. She entered the room and greeted everyone a good morning but not as cheerful as the usual greeting. She just headed to her seat and then laid her head on her desk while her arms were supporting her head and tended to sleep while their teacher was not yet there.

"_That baka. Why did she still come to class? She's too tired to even walk to her bed last night and yet she still woke up this early." _Thought Hotaru as she approached Mikan while taking her energy level from the energy meter. _"87%" _her eyes were still as emotionless as ever when she read the result.

"Oi baka, are you alright? Wake up. Sensei will be coming soon." Hotaru said.

"She's right Mikan-chan." said Anna. "Are you feeling well? You look pretty tired to me." continued Nonoko as everyone from her gang was staring at her with concern except for Natsume who was covering himself with his manga but frequently glancing at his seatmate.

"I'm perfectly fine guys. No need to worry about me. I just slept really late last night so I feel kinda sleepy this morning. You guys should just head to your seats, Mr. Jinno will be coming soon." She reassured her friends with one of her smiles.

A few minutes of convincing, her friends finally went back to their seats and the Mr. Jinno came in. as soon as he arrived, he started teaching the students about polynomials and radicals. And after a few boring hours of math discussions, the school bell finally rang indicating that it's time for their dismissal.

"Hey Mi-chan, do you want to go to Central Town with us?" asked Nonoko. "Yeah. Nonoko and I have to go to our stalls there. Wanna come along?" continued Anna.

"No thanks guys. I guess I would just take a walk around the academy so that my sleepiness would go away. Why don't you ask Hotaru instead?" she replied.

"Cupcake already asked Hotaru but she said she still has some things to do in her lab and then she has dinner with Ruka later since it's their anniversary." Answered Yuu.

"Oh, okay then. Well, you guys better get going then. You don't want to be late, do you?" Mikan stated.

"Hai. Ja! Mikan-chan!" said her friends as they bid their goodbyes and then Mikan started walking around the campus. Since she wasn't able to greet Hotaru and Ruka a while ago, she just decided to greet them via text message.

**To: Hotaru; Ruka-pyon**

**Message: Happy Anniversary to the both of you! Gomen because I was not able to greet you personally a while ago in the classroom. I hope your rel will still last longer! =]**

After a few minutes, she received replies from the couple saying their thanks and everything. Mikan was walking near the area of Natsume's favorite spot, the Sakura Tree. Then someone from behind tapped Mikan on the shoulder. She turned around to see a handsome young lad who was a bit taller than her. He had shiny navy blue hair, black eyes and dimples. "Oh, hello. May I know who you are?" asked Mikan.

"I'm Izumi Sacho. You're Sakura Mikan if I'm not mistaken?" he replied.

"Hai. It's pretty nice meeting you Izumi-san. Demo, what brings you here?"

"I am one of your admirers but I don't belong to any of your fan clubs. I was just wondering if you could go to the Halloween Dance with me?" he answered without knowing that a pair of crimson orbs are watching them from one of the tree's branches.

"_Should I say yes? I really wanna go to the dance with Natsume but it seems that he really doesn't have a plan to go. And Izumi-san seems pretty nice and he's not one of the fan boys who chase me all over the academy campus. I might as well give it a shot and go with him." _Mikan thought.

"_Damn. Looks like Polka will agree to this twerp! Shit!" _Natsume thought.

Mikan was about to answer Sacho until someone has grabbed her wrist and it turns out that it was Natsume.

"Oh, Natsume, what're you doing here? By the way, meet Izumi Sacho, he's asking me out to go with him to the dance." Mikan said while Natsume just gave Sacho one of his death glares.

"So, what would your answer be Sakura-san?" asked Sacho

"Ano, it would be a – " she wasn't able to finish her statement when Natsume suddenly spoke.

"She's not going with you since she already has a partner for the dance. Let's go Polka Dots." Natsume said as he dragged Mikan to his favorite spot – the Sakura Tree.

"Hey! What's the big Idea Natsume! I almost had a pretty nice partner to go to the dance with and YOU had to ruin it! What the heck is wrong with you?!" Mikan yelled. "And could you just let go of my wrist! It hurts you know!"

Natsume just kept quiet while Mikan was like a bickering wife who keeps on yelling at him for ruining the chance of having a partner for the ball.

"And now you can't even answer me?! Geez Natsume! Get a life! It's not like something bad would happen if I would go to the dance with Izumi-san! He seems pretty nice to me!"

"You just don't get it do Polka Dots?" said Natsume in a very low tone while covering his face with his bangs. Once Mikan heard what Natsume had said, she suddenly kept quiet.

"Huh? What do you mean Natsume?" asked Mikan.

And right that very instant, Mikan was leaning on the tree trunk while Natsume's hands were on her sides acting like a cage for Mikan so that she won't be able to leave. "You just don't get it do you?" said Natsume once again but with a tint of anger, frustration, and jealousy in his voice.

"Hey, Natsume! Let go! This hurts already! And you're scaring the hell out of me!" Mikan said while fright was apparently visible on her voice.

"Tch. Are you really THAT dense? Oh come on Mikan! How come you never noticed that I don't want any other damn guy to be with you? How come you never noticed that I never want to see you getting hurt! Damn it Mikan! I love you! Can't you get that registered in that little mind of yours!"

And with that, the two of them were both shocked.

"_Tch. Oh great. Just my luck, I slipped. Now she knows how I feel."_

"_Huh? Did I hear the right thing? Oh my gosh! He loves me?!"_

Little did they know that a pair of amethyst and blue eyes were watching them from afar.

"Hey Hotaru, are you sure about this? Shouldn't we give them some privacy?" Ruka asked his girlfriend who was filming the whole thing.

"Be quiet. Right after I'm done filming we could go to Central Town for our dinner. Just wait a little bit. Okay?"

"Okay, but are you planning on selling those?"

"No. This will be my gift for the both of them."

Upon hearing, he felt relieved. Of course, he didn't want the special moment of his best friend to be sold to everyone on the academy all because of a video tape.


	20. A very happy day

CHAPTER 20: A very happy day

There was an eerie silence between our nullifier and our flame caster. Natsume finally let go of the tree branch while Mikan was finally capable of moving freely since she got out of Natsume's grasp. They were just staring at the ground, not knowing of the proper thing that they should do. And then Natsume just sat up and started walking away.

"Hey Natsume! Where're you going?" Mikan asked.

"Leaving. There's no point in staying since I already told you the thing that I have been keeping for so long. And it would look stupid totally if we just stare at the ground just like that."

Upon hearing that, Mikan suddenly stood up and dusted her skirt. "That would be rude if you leave just like that without even hearing what I've got to say."

Natsume suddenly stopped his tracks and then looked back at our brunette. Then out brunette came near him and then gave him a peck in the lips. Natsume was shocked of her actions and then the next thing they knew was that they were sitting under "their" tree.

"Oi, Polka."

"Hm?"

"What was the kiss for?"

"What do you think?" she said with a smirk.

"Oh come on. I need a definite and more concise answer than that one."

"Huh? Why would I give you an answer when you didn't even ask me a question in the first place?" retorted Mikan.

"Do I have to? You it anyway so why the heck would I still ask something that… uhm.. mushy?"

"Very well then Mr. Hyuuga. No question, then no answer." Mikan said with a smirk as she was about to stand up but Natsume caught her wrist and pulled her down again to sit as Natsume just gave out a sigh.

"Stay." Natsume commanded. _"Here goes nothing. I might as well say goodbye to my pride and reputation even just for this night." _Natsume thought as he heard Mikan giggle. Apparently, our little brunette was able to read his mind.

"Uhm.. Polka, I mean, Mikan I love you. Will you be my girl?" he asked. _"This would be the most embarrassing day of my life. I wonder how Ruka and the others were able to do this?" _he thought while he was waiting for an answer for the girl of his dreams.

"I'd love to Natsume!" she replied as she gave her boyfriend a big bear hug.

"Hey! Can't breathe! Too tight!" Natsume said while trying to catch his breath as Mikan released him from the hug. As Mikan let go, he let out a small smile off of his lips. _"I guess it wasn't that bad after all. Ruka was right."_

"Oh my gosh! Natsume! You smiled! It's so kawaaaaaaaaiiii!" Mikan squealed.

"No I did not. Could you just keep quiet?" he said while hiding his blush through his bangs. And was also a good thing that it was already a bit dark and it was barely noticeable.

"Natsume smiled! Natsume smiled! Natsume smiled!" Mikan kept on repeating in a singing voice until Natsume held her chin up and met his lips into hers. They were both silent and shared a very passionate kiss. They only had to break the kiss because they needed some air.

Meanwhile, behind one of the bushes…

"Come on Ruka, let's give them some privacy. And we still have an anniversary to celebrate." Hotaru said while leaving from their hiding spot heading to the bus stop.

"_Way to go buddy. I knew you could do it!" _Ruka thought.

The new couple just sat under their tree in silence savoring every single moment that they have together until the brunette decided to speak up.

"Natsume?"

"hn?" he answered as he looked at the brunette who was laying her head on his lap.

"I was just wondering, since when did you start… you know… liking me?"

"Dunno. But I guess I was only able to realize it when we were kidnapped by that bastard about six years ago." he replied as Mikan was shocked and then sat up beside her boyfriend.

"What?! How come you were able to hide everything you felt for THAT LONG?"

"I just don't want you to get hurt. You know very well on what situation I am in. and Persona will do anything just keep me doing missions. I was afraid that he would hurt all of the people who are dear to me, especially you." He replied in a very serious tone.

"Baka. And I thought you're one of the smartest students here. What the heck, Natsume. You should know that as long as I have you by my side, I'll be fine." Mikan stated as she leaned her head onto the shoulder of Natsume. And after a little while, she was asleep. or more like pretended to sleep since she knew that Persona was there.

"Oi, Persona, you can come out now." He said as he leaned Mikan's pretending to be asleep body on the tree trunk. Persona suddenly came out from nowhere with a smirk on his face.

"My, my Black Cat, I see that you seem to be protecting this little girl over here." He said. _"Nice acting Ms. Sakura." "Thank you sensei. Just pretend that you don't know that we're together, okay?" _

Upon hearing those words, he quickly stood up right in front of the sleeping Mikan in a very protective manner. "Tch. Whatever you demented teacher. What're you doing here anyway?"

"Nothing. Just checking on you. I would also like to inform you that you'll receive less difficult missions from now on. That would be all. And make sure that your performance when it comes to mission taking won't be affected even if it seemed that you have developed some feelings for that little girl." He said as he vanished.

He then went up to his girlfriend and then stroke her hair. Mikan pretended to stir a little bit and then she woke up. "Oh, hey. What happened?" she asked innocently.

"Nothing. It's getting late; we better head back to our rooms." He said as he assisted his girlfriend in standing up and then they headed back to their rooms holding each others' hands.


	21. A little acting would be fun

CHAPTER 21: A little acting would be fun

The next day, our little flame caster decided to go to class with his little girlfriend. And as of now, his patience is getter lesser and lesser since he was already knocking on the door of Mikan's room.

"Oi Polka Dots! Hurry up!"

"I'm coming! Sorry to keep you waiting." She said as she went out of her special star room. "Shall we go?" she asked with a smile as her boyfriend just answered her with a "hn."

They both entered the room while their hands were intertwined. They headed to their seats while Mikan was greeting everyone else with her sweet smile that can always brighten a person's day. Everyone was shocked with what they saw but no one dared to ask something since they are fearing of having third degree burns and such.

"So, you're finally together huh?" asked Hotaru with a smirk.

"Kawaii! They look so perfect together!" Anna and Nonoko squealed in delight.

"Congratulations to the both of you." Yuu and Koko said.

Mikan went over to the seat of Hotaru to have a little chit chat while Natsume just proceeded to his seat.

"You've finally done it, buddy. Good for you." Complimented Ruka.

"Hn."

"Now, I know that you can really be happy." Ruka continued.

They were all very peaceful in doing minding their own businesses. There were a few groups who were having a little chat with their friends just like Mikan, some are playing with their Alices and some just prefer to be quiet in their own seats just like Natsume and Ruka. everything else was alright until they heard an ear piercing scream.

"WHHHHAAAATTT?!?!?!?!?" Sumire shouted as she entered the room while stomping heading towards Mikan's direction. "Sakura! How dare you steal my Natsume from me! Ruka having a girlfriend is already too much for me and now my Natsume?!?"

She kept on blabbering things out while Mikan just ignored her. It was as if she doesn't even exist. When she was done talking to her friends, Mikan decided to go back to her seat, still not minding the blabbering Sumire who was standing right in front of her.

"Sakura! Don't you dare turn your back on me while I'm still talking to you!" Sumire yelled. She then transformed into a cat-dog like creature and started running towards Mikan. She was about to scratch Mikan's back with her claws but a fire wall suddenly appeared right in front of her. She backed out due to too much shock and fright while Mikan just stood there, dumbfounded to what happened to Sumire.

"Oi, Permy, don't you even dare try hurting her in some sort of way. You got that? If you hurt her, you have to suffer the consequences." Natsume said as seriously as possible while the class just kept quiet. One thing was now sure that was registered into their minds and it was: Mikan was off limits.

Just right then, their teacher, Narumi, entered the class. He started teaching about Figures of Speech and Diagramming Sentences. And after the discussion, the gang went on separate ways.

Anna had to go the bakery, Nonoko had to go to the pharmacy, Yuu had a meeting which involved the class representatives, Hotaru went to her lab to finish her inventions, Ruka went to the barn to tend to the animals and Koko had to go to Mochu's room to watch a few movies. And since everyone else was busy, our couple decided to go to their favorite spot.

Mikan was happily sprinting her way to the Sakura Tree and she was a few meters ahead of Natsume. She arrived right in front of the tree seeing Persona.

"Oh, hello sensei. What brings you here?"

"Nothig much, my little kitten. Let's put up a little act for our dear Black Cat shall we? This won't hurt a bit so just play along."

"Okie dokie sensei. Just don't overdo it, okay?"

After a little while, Natsume heard a scream. He recognized very well that the voice belonged to Mikan so he hurriedly ran to the Sakura Tree right away and then saw Persona, gripping Mikan through her neck while fear was apparently written all over Mikan's face.

"Mikan! Why you demented bastard! Let go of her now!" Natsume bellowed as he lit some fire onto his palms trying to hit Persona.

"I see you got yourself a girlfriend, Kuro Neko. You don't want her to get hit by your own Alice don't we?" he asked with a smirk. _"Nice acting Mikan, just keep it up for a little while. And is it really true that you're together?" _he asked through telepathy.

"_Hai sensei. We're together since last night when you went here. I promise that our relationship will not cause any changes on my performance so there's nothing to worry about." _Mikan answered back. _"Oh, and take it easy on him sensei, he's getting really mad."_

"Just let her go! She has nothing to do with this! And heck, she's not even doing anything!" he answered back while got even more shocked when he saw Mikan gasping for air.

"Na-natsume, I *gasp* can't breathe! *gasp*" said a struggling Mikan while a tear fell from her rosy little cheeks. _"How's my acting sensei?"_

"_Very good but I guess we should end this now. Your little boyfriend is already raging with fire."_

"What is it my little Black Cat? Can't stand the scene where your little girlfriend suffers right in front of you?" he said with a smirk. "Oh looky here. She's lost her consciousness. I guess I'm done with her for now." He said as she let go of Mikan causing her to fall flat on the floor as he left.

"I'm reminding you again, Kuro Neko. This little relationship of yours should NEVER AFFECT your performance in your missions because of it does, you know what could possibly happen to her." He said while vanishing into thin air.

Once persona was out of sight, he immediately ran to Mikan's aid. After a few minutes, Mikan woke up finding out that she's now in Natsume's arms. "Huh? What happened?"

"The bastard teacher came. Are you alright?" he asked with much concern in his voice.

"Hai." Mikan replied followed by a little yawn.

"Let's get going. You need some rest." Natsume said while helping Mikan up.


	22. My first mission and a new friend

CHAPTER 22: My first mission and a new friend

It was the night where Mikan is to fulfill her very first mission – saving Aoi Hyuuga. She went to their usual meeting place and then listens carefully to the details given by her teacher. Hotaru was not able to go to her room tonight since she has an invention due to be submitted tomorrow morning.

"You are to rescue Hyuuga tonight. She's held captive at a warehouse by the docks. She is in the second room to the right. Be careful because there are definitely a lot of guards and all of them possess an Alice. Try to accomplish this mission as fast as you can and without acquiring that much injury. is that understood, Hazel Kitten?" Persona instructed.

"Hai, sensei!" and with an instant, she teleported herself to the warehouse.

"_Gee, there are really a bunch of guards. I bet there're more inside. Oh well, the earlier I start, the earlier I would be finished. Here goes nothing." _She sighed and then activated her Invisibility Alice.

She then used her Flying Alice to get to the area easily without making too much noise. She searched all of the windows hoping that she would find a little girl at about thirteen years of age. After seeing the second room on the third floor, she saw a figure sitting there quietly. She then used her Through Alice so that she may pass through the walls of the buildings.

"Hey, are you Aoi Hyuuga? The one with the Fire Alice?" she whispered as Aoi was obviously shocked.

"W-who and where are you? Please don't hurt me. I'll do anything you want." She stammered, fear evident in her voice.

"Don't worry. I'm a friend. I came here to save you and then bring you back to Alice Academy. Your brother misses you a lot, you know. I'm Akane Takahashi also known as Hazel Kitten. You can just call me Akane if you want." She replied while deactivating her Invisibility Alice so that Aoi may see her.

Upon hearing the fact about the academy and her brother, Aoi smiled at her. "Okay Akane-nee. But how do we get out of here? There are guards everywhere and one you step on the floor, the alarm will ring."

"We can escape easily." She said while burning the ropes that were tied on Aoi's little hands and feet. "We can do this as long as we help each other, okay? Since I won't be able to make you visible as well, we have to get out of the warehouse through the doors."

"But, there are high security. What if they hurt you?"

"I'll put a force field around the two of us. This will prevent any type of attack from hitting us. Once we get out of this room, just towards the exit since the barrier of the AAO is weaker in that area. I'll cover for you. Once you got outside, wait for me under the big oak tree and then I'll teleport the two of us back to the academy. Got it?" she told Aoi.

"Hai Akane-nee. Let's go back to the academy together."

And then they did what was planned. A few guards were able to spot them and started attacking them. "Hey! Stop them! They're getting away!" a guard told them while using his Ice Alice on them. Aoi stopped running to get back to Akane.

"No! Run Aoi! Don't worry, I'll be fine!" she said while fighting the other guards. Aoi kept on running until a guard suddenly appeared right in front of her when she was about to leave the warehouse. "Not so fast, little missy. You won't be able to escape that easily." Grinned the guard.

"_Sheesh, when will these people give up. But I can't be captured again. Well, I guess I just have to use my Alice on them." _Aoi thought as she concentrated on creating fire since it had been a pretty long time since she wasn't using her Alice. And then, fire suddenly surrounded every guard that was in the warehouse. Mikan was shocked but took advantage of the time when the guards can't move.

"Akane-nee! Let's go!" she shouted as they both continued running towards the exit.

"Nice work *pant*over there *pant* Aoi! You *pant* really are *pant*a Hyuuga. *pant* You're as *pant* strong as *pant* your bro *pant* ther!" Mikan praised Aoi in between her pants.

"Thank you Akane-nee. You're not too bad yourself. Are you alright?" she asked since she knew Mikan was panting.

"I'm fine. Just a little tired from all the Alice usage. Shall we go?" she answered with a smile. And then Aoi took Mikan's hand and teleported back to the academy where Persona was patiently waiting for them.

"Good work, my little kitten. Now you go to sleep. Aoi could sleep in your room for tonight since her room arrangement will just be fixed tomorrow. Ja." He said as he disappeared while Mikan just teleported herself and Aoi back to her room.

"Sugoi! Akane-nee! Your room is so cute and big!" she said in awe while Mikan just giggled as she removed her mask revealing a beautiful brunette in front of Aoi. Aoi just stared in shock. _"Whoa, she's already pretty as Akane. But her true self is even prettier!" _She thought as she stared at Mikan who was just giggling.

"Why thank you Aoi-chan. And please close your mouth, it's kinda scaring me." she said with giggles since she read her mind. "You see, Akane Takahashi is just my pen name in the DA class. My real name is Mikan Sakura. You just call me Mikan if you want. Oh, and if Natsume asks how you got here, please tell him that Hazel Kitten saved you and brought you here. He doesn't know that I'm taking up missions." She said with a smile.

"Hai. Okay, Mikan-nee. Do you know my onii-chan?" she asked.

"Well, everyone in the academy knows him. He's very popular and all. He even has fan girls that are chasing them all over the campus."

"Oh. I never thought that onii-chan would be that popular."

"Don't worry Aoi-chan. In no time, I'm sure that you'll have a fan club too just like Natsume since you're really pretty. You're like his girl version." With this statement, Aoi blushed.

"Err, thank you, I guess. How about you Mikan-nee? Do you have a fan club? You're very pretty, I'm sure boys would go gaga all over you." Aoi replied.

"Well, yeah. I also have a fan club. And boy, they can be really annoying at times." She said with a laugh. "Well, it's pretty late, and I still have classes tomorrow, let go to sleep, neh?"

"Hai, Oyasuminasai Mikan-nee. Thank you again for saving me."

"Oyasumi Aoi-chan. don't mention it."


	23. Sibling get together

CHAPTER 23: Sibling get-together

That morning, Mikan woke up all because someone was tugging the sleeve of her pajamas. She slowly opened her eyes revealing crimson eyes staring at her. Due to too much shock, she quickly sat up her bed.

"Mikan-nee, you should get dressed or else you might be late." Aoi stated while Mikan was just currently getting out of her trance.

"Hai. Thanks for waking me up, Aoi-chan." she said with a smile as she stood up and headed to take a shower.

"Uhm, Mikan-nee? When can I see onii-chan?" asked Aoi. "You see, I really really really wanna see him. I miss him a lot."

"Don't worry, you will be able to see him soon. Oh, that reminds me. You should also talk to Mr. Narumi about your attendance here in the academy." She replied as she was applying shampoo in her hair. Aoi just kept quiet until Mikan was don't taking a bath. After a few minutes, she came out with her uniform on.

"Sugoi! What I cute uniform! I want one too! But I guess mine would a different color since I'm younger." She said until they heard a knock on the door.

KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.

Mikan went towards the door to see who it was while Aoi was busy combing her shoulder-length hair. Once she opened the door, she saw her boyfriend already prepared for school.

"Ohayo Polka. Are you ready?" he asked.

"Ohayo to you too. Oh my, you're quite early today." She said while giving him a peck in the cheek which made him blush for a little bit.

"Mikan-nee? Who's there at the door?" asked a curious Aoi who was now heading towards her. She then stopped as she saw a boy about three years older than her with same raven hair and crimson eyes.

"Aoi/onii-chan!" they both said at the same time. Both their eyes were like saucers until Aoi was out of her trance as she gave her big brother a big hug while Mikan just kept quiet while witnessing the little reunion that those two are having. She feels so happy knowing that the two of them are together again.

"Aoi! When? How? Why?" asked a very happy but confused Natsume.

"Well, Hazel Kitten came and then saved me last night. Since I have nowhere else to go to sleep, she dropped me by at Mikan-nee's room since she knows that the two of you really know each other! I missed you sooooo much!" she said while tightening their hug even more.

"Oi, Polka, you know that Takahashi girl?" he asked suspiciously.

"No. I was just surprised that she suddenly teleported to my room last night while bringing a mini Natsume with her. She told me that she's your sister and that she should sleep with me." she replied. _"Oh boy. Lying again. Sheesh. Sorry Natsume."_

"Oh, by the way onii-chan, what are you doing here at Mikan-nee's room this early in the morning?" asked a very curious Aoi.

"I came to pick her up. We go to class together." He coolly replied.

"Huh? Why? Is that another rule of the partnering system here in this school?" she asked.

And then Natsume stood up, put his arms around Mikan's waist, which made her blush like a tomato. "No. It's because she's my girlfriend."

"Oh my gosh!!! Mikan-nee's your girlfriend?!?! It's so kawaii!! But, how come you never told me, Mikan-nee?" she squealed in delight knowing that her brother was with a really nice and pretty girl.

"Well, it's because you never asked." She said with a giggle. "Well, let's get going. We still have to drop you off to Narumi-sensei to know what class you are in. Maybe you'll be in the Middle School division since you're already thirteen."

And then they all went their way to the faculty room. Natsume and Mikan were holding each other's hand while Aoi was just enjoying the beautiful sight. _"It was a good thing that onii-chan softened up a bit. I guess it was all because of Mikan-nee. Arigato Mikan-nee, you really made my brother happy. I hope you end up with one of those happily ever after stories in the fairy tales that okaa-san used to read me when I was younger."_

They took Aoi to Mr. Narumi as the couple headed to class. Their first teacher was Jinno. He discussed things about extracting the square root of a radical and such. Right after Jinno's class, Narumi stepped in with his casual clothes on. "Ohayo my dear students! I have good news for you! Today, you'll be having a new classmate! You may come in now!" Narumi said as someone with shoulder-length raven hair and crimson orbs entered the room. Everyone was shocked including Natsume and Mikan.

"Please introduce yourself." Narumi said with a smile.

"Hai. Ohayo Gozaimasu! I'm Aoi Hyuuga. I have the Fire Alica and I am a Three Star. Nice to meet all of you!" she said with one of her bright smiled.

"_What's she doing here?" _both Mikan and Natsume thought.

"_Wow, she's pretty. She looks pretty young too."_

"_A Hyuuga? How's she related to Natsume? She looks like him too."_

The class was filled with too many thoughts and even out mind reader gave up on reading all of them.

"Okay class, any questions about Ms. Hyuuga here?" Narumi stated as a student raised her hand, and it was Sumire. "Yes, Sumire?"

"Sensei, are you sure that this kid belongs to our class? She looks WAY TOO young to be a first year high school student."

"Oh, about that. She took and intelligence exam and we found out that she has the intelligence fit for a high school student so the whole department decided to accelerate her year level. Any more questions?" he said again as another student raised a hand. And this time, it was a boy.

"So, do you have a boyfriend, Aoi-san? You're really pretty and if you're still single, would you mind going out with me?"

Upon hearing this, Aoi blushed as red as a tomato. Some students were even shocked since she was just new and then she gets asked by stupid questions just like that. Everything went quiet until they smelled something burning.

"Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!! My hair!!" shouted the guy who asked Aoi to be her girlfriend.

"Tch. Don't you dare talk to her like that." Said Natsume while he gave him a death glare that sent everyone shivers on their spine.

"What's the big deal Hyuuga?! Mind your own freaking business! You already have Sakura as your girlfriend!" retorted the guy since the fire on his head was extinguished care of the water from the vase.

"Don't you dare include Polka in this. And mind you, I'm already minding my own business. I'm just protecting my sister from playboys just like you. If you dare talk to her like that again, then you already know the consequences," He shot back.

Everyone else was shocked when they heard the statement of Natsume. They all looked at Aoi as if asking for clarifications and such.

"_I see we have an overprotective big brother here."_ Thought Narumi while Mikan and Koko just let out a silent chuckle since they have read his thoughts.

"Hehehe. I also forgot to tell you that Natsume here is my onii-chan." she said with a giggle. "Ano, thanks for what you did a while ago onii-chan." "Hn."

"Okay class!" Narumi clapped his hands to get the class' attention. "There will be a free day for today since we have a teacher's meeting. Feel free to do anything you want as long as you don't end up hurting each other. And be nice to Aoi-chan! Ja!" he said as he left the room while other students followed while Aoi just headed to where her onii and onee-chan were.


	24. New friends and a trip to Central Town

CHAPTER 24: New friends and trip to central town

The whole gang went over to Mikan's desk. "So where do you want to go this afternoon?" asked Anna and Nonoko.

"I know! Why don't we go to Central Town! We can tour Aoi there!" Mikan squealed while Aoi just furrowed her eyebrows.

"Ano… where's Central Town?" she asked.

"It's a town where you can buy different stuff." Replied Natsume.

"Oh, uhm.. onee-chan, who are they?"

"Oh, sorry for not introducing them to you. This girls with short raven hair is Hotaru, she's my best friend and Ruka's girlfriend. She has the Invention Alice. The girl with long pink hair is Anna and she's the girlfriend of Yuu. She has the Cooking Alice while Yuu has the Illusion Alice. The girl with long blue hair is Nonoko and she's the girlfriend of Koko. She has the Chemistry Alice while Koko has the Mind reading Alice. The boy with glasses is Yuu and the other boy with dirty blonde hair is Koko." Mikan explained while Aoi just listened intently.

"Nice to meet you, Aoi-chan!" they all chorused.

"Nice to meet you all as well! I hope that we could be good friends!" she answered with a smile. _"Looks like onii-chan has a good bunch of friends and it looks like they are all fun to be with!"_

"You got that right, Aoi-chan!" blurted out Koko while he received a slap on the head from Natsume. "Don't you dare read her mind as well."

"Okay, since the introduction portions are over, shall we go now?" asked Hotaru.

"Hai!" everyone chorused except for Natsume as they proceeded to bus stop for their ride to Central Town. Once they got there, Mikan was like jumping for joy while Aoi was just staring at the whole place.

"Yey! We're here! Let's go get some Howalon!" Mikan squealed.

"Oi Polka Dots! Quiet down will ya! You're making my ears bleed!"

"Oh come on Natsume, why don't you have some fun even just for a while? We don't have enough time to visit Central Town nowadays so why don't we make the most out of it. Pretty please?" she said with her puppy dog eyes.

"_Damn! I hate it when she does that!"_ he thought. "Fine." He groaned.

"Yey! Now let's go to the Howalon Shop!" she squealed in delight as she grabbed Aoi's and Natsume's hand.

"Wow, Mikan-chan really loves Howalon that much huh?" chorused Anna and Nonoko while sweat dropping.

"Yup. No doubt about that." Continued Yuu and Koko.

BAKA BAKA BAKA!

"Will you guys snap out of your little daydreams and let's get going?" Hotaru said. "We did not go here just to watch those three and do nothing."

"Hotaru has a point. But where do you plan to go?" asked Ruka who was currently hugging Hotaru in the waist and Hotaru didn't seem to mind at all.

"I got it! Why don't we go on our separate ways and then meet by the fountain in about two hours?" suggested Yuu.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure we all want some time alone with our girlfriends." Continued Koko with a smirk.

"That would be fine. I'll just text Mikan and then Ruka will just text Natsume. Well, Ja!" Hotaru said as they all went their separate ways.

"See you later guys!" chorused Anna and Nonoko.

"Yummy!!! Sugoi!!! Mikan-nee, you're right!!! Howalong tastes great!!!" Aoi said while stuffing the pink fluffy candy on her mouth.

"I told you you'd love it!" Mikan replied while she was shoving a piece into Natsume's mouth. "Oh come on Natsume. Open your mouth and say aaaaaahhhh." Mikan said as if she was a mom feeding her baby.

"No. I don't eat sweets." He replied.

"Huh? Since when onii-chan? you used to eat a lot of 'em when we're at home." Aoi asked in wonder.

"Since right no – " he wasn't able to finish his sentence since Mikan already stuffed a candy in her mouth. It just melted quickly and swallowed the rest of it. "What the heck was that for?" he suddenly asked but suddenly shifted his daze to his sister who was currently giggling.

"What's funny?" he asked.

"Nothing.*giggle* It's just *giggle* that *giggle* you two *giggle* look so *giggle* cute toge *giggle* ther!" Aoi said in between her giggles while Natsume just stared at her and then Mikan just blushed.

After a few minutes, their phones beeped. Mikan received a message from Hotaru while Natsume got one from Ruka.

Mikan's message:

**From: Hotaru**

**Message: Mikan, you better go to the fountain now. We'll meet there and then go home afterwards right after all of us are there. And you better not be late or else you'll have to face the wrath of my Baka Cannon. Ja.**

Natsume's message:

**From: Ruka**

**Message: Hey, the whole gang is meeting up at the fountain so we could go home together. Meet you there in a few minutes. Ja.**

After reading their messages, they headed to the fountain and then went home back to their dorms. Aoi already had a Three Star room right next to Hotaru's room so there's no need to sleep in Mikan's room.

Meanwhile, at a café…

"Is everything set?"

"Yes, Master Reo. We will strike tonight and then get the Sakura girl, by hook or by crook." Replied the other guy.

"Good. Just make sure that Sakura will be here, ALIVE." Reo retorted.


	25. Mikan was kidnapped!

CHAPTER 25: Mikan was kidnapped!

Since it was a stressful night, the whole gang was able to sleep soundly from a tiring trip to Central Town. Everyone was safely tucked on their beds, sleeping soundly like a baby. Even the notorious Black Cat was able to get a good night's sleep having dreams of the girl that he loves the most – Mikan.

On the other hand, Mikan was also sleeping soundly until she stirred a bit due to the noise that she heard that came from her room. She then stood up and prepared herself just in case that a robber was in her room.

"Who's there?!? C-c-come out now?!?" she stammered. _"Oh no! I know that someone's here! I can sense it! Who could it be?" _Mikan thought until someone grabbed her from her back, covered her nose with a piece of cloth.

"_Crap! I never should have let my guard dow – "_ that was all she thought of until everything suddenly became black.

"Hello, boss. I have the girl right now. She's unconscious though. What'll I do with her and what if someone goes to her room?" asked the agent as he called Reo through the phone.

"Good. Just bring her here at the headquarters. And make sure that the Sakura doll is placed in her bed so that everyone else will think that she's still there." Reo instructed as the agent too out a small pill. He then pushed a button from a remote and then a dummy that looks like Mikan sleeping suddenly formed. He then placed it on the bed, tucked it in a pillow and then left with the real Mikan still lying unconscious in his arms.

"MIKAN!!!" Natsume suddenly shouted as he awakened from his dream, or should I say, nightmare. _"Shit! Why do I suddenly have a bad feeling about something?"_

And then he stood up and went to the place where his instincts brought him – Mikan's room. He left his room even if he was just shirtless and just wearing his jogging pants. He then took out the spare key that he got from Imai.

FLASHBACK:

"Oi, Imai. I need a spare key to Polka's room."

"Why are you asking one from me Hyuuga? Why don't you ask one from the dorm robot or to your girlfriend yourself?"

"The damn robot won't give me one and then I bet Polka doesn't even know where she kept her spare key so I came to ask one from you."

"A spare key from Mikan's room would cost 1,000 rabbits." Said the blackmailer with a smirk. "And it also has a condition as well."

"_Tch. Same as always." _Natsume thought as he handed her the money. "Here. What's the stupid condition and the just give me the damn key."

"Here's the key." Hotaru said calmly while handing him the shining silver item which would lead to Mikan's room. "And the condition is that you should never hurt her. Got that? Once I knew that my idiotic best friend is crying all because of you, you'll meet Baka Bazooka 3000."

"Whatever. Oh yeah, no need to tell me that. I already know that very well.

END OF FLASHBACK

He then opened the special star room of his girlfriend. Upon opening the door, he then immediately saw a sleeping figure of her one and only girl. Once he saw the sleeping figure, he felt relieved and that he immediately closed the door and went back to his room to get some sleep not even noticing that what he saw was just a fake dummy impersonating the looks of Mikan.

The next day was a typical day for them. The whole class was noisy. Boys are now swooning all over Aoi since she already has a fan club due to her good looks. And as if it was a Hyuuga trademark, Aoi just burnt their hair. _"Geeze! Now I know how the others felt whenever fan boys are following you everywhere!"_

Natsume didn't go to class with Mikan today since he had something to do with Ruka that morning before class. Then the two of them entered the room and proceeded to their seats. Natsume sat in wonder since his girl was not yet there.

"Oi, has anyone of you guys seen Polka Dots?" he asked with a hint of concern in his voice. All of them just answered a shrug or he just received a "no" from his friends. Since Mikan was not yet there and the school bell will soon ring, everyone was worried sick for her. While all of them are worried, Mr. Narumi suddenly stepped in the room with a sad face.

"Ohayo my dear students. I have a very important announcement for all of you and it all concerns about our favorite Mikan-chan." he announced and then the heads of Mikan's gang suddenly shot up and started to listen to him.

"You see, the security system of the academy was destroyed last night and it seems that the one who destroyed has very good skills because the academy only realized it this morning." He started while the while class was surprised. "And then the whole department searched to figure out is anyone was hurt or something like that. To much of our surprise, we realized that Mikan-chan was missing."

"What makes you so sure that she was really kidnapped?" asked a very calm Hotaru.

"Well, we did investigate every room this morning just before class began. And we found out that the sleeping figure on Mikan's room was just a fake dummy." He explained as everyone gasped including Natsume and Hotaru. "And aside from finding this dummy, we also found this note near Mikan's study table. It seems that it's for Natsume." He continued as he handed the letter to him.

"Well, since the teachers are still investigating about the case, I declare this day to be a free day. Ja minna-san." He said as he left the room in a not so happy face.

"What does the letter say?" asked Ruka as Hotaru grabbed the note and then read it loud enough only for the gang to hear.

"Kuro Neko, if you expect to see your petty little girlfriend alive and still breathing, you have to come and then save her, ALONE. There should be no back-ups of some sort. I'll be expecting you to go to the warehouse where I once held you captive when you were ten later at about 10:00pm. Signed, your favorite friend, Mouri Reo."

And as soon as Hotaru was able to finish the letter, all of them were in the state of shock and then the note turned into ashes in an instant. Natsume was about to leave until Persona appeared before them.

"Kuro Neko, I see that your girlfriend has been captured." He said.

"Tch. I know. Damn it, Persona. This is not the right time to be chit chatting! Hurry up and just say what you've got to say because I still have to save her!" he bellowed.

"Patience my little one. I came here to tell you that the academy has full support on you rescue mission tonight. We'd let you go there alone but when the worst comes to worse, we'll be there." he continued. "As you can see, Ms. Sakura is a very important person to all of us." He said as he disappeared.

After Persona's little speech, Natsume left and proceeded to his room while Ruka just followed him in silence.


	26. My weakness, his plans & helpful friends

CHAPTER 26: Natsume's weakness, Reo's plans and helpful friends

Natsume headed to his room have some peace and quiet and to have some time to think of a way on how to save his Mikan but little did he know that he was being followed by his best friend. He entered his room and then suddenly punched the wall. _"Damn it! How could I be so stupid!" _he thought.

"Hurting yourself will not do anything good, you know."

He turned his back only to see his best friend entering his room while staring at him with eyes full of concern.

"Hey, I know that you are in a difficult situation right now. But sulking here in your room and hurting yourself is not going to help." Stated Ruka

"I know. It's just that how could I be so stupid?" he replied while slumping himself into his couch. "I went to her room last night and I didn't even notice that what I saw was just a freaking dummy!"

"Hey, it was a trap. Everyone fell for it so do not blame yourself, it's not your fault. It just looks like they really want to have Mikan-chan so they really planned for it. All you have to do is calm yourself down, get a grip, and then start thinking of ways on how to bring back Mikan here in the academy safe and sound." Ruka suggested.

"Hn. But how? My mind is currently not functioning very well as you can see."

"I don't know. Do what your heart tells you, I guess. If I was in your position right now, I wouldn't know what to do either." He said calmly. "Well, I better get going. they told me I need to go to the barn this afternoon." He continued as he headed towards the door.

"Hn. Arigato, Ruka." Natsume said with a little smile on his face.

"Don't mention it. Just don't do anything stupid again, all right?"

Natsume just nodded while he totally left the room.

"_Tch. Damn that Reo. Just hang in there, Polka. I'll definitely come and save you. That's a promise."_

Meanwhile, on a warehouse near the docks…

"Hey boss, what do we do with this little brat? As far as I could remember, we should be revenging on the Hyuuga kid. What does this little girl do with him?" asked Shidou, one of Reo's agents.

"Well, from what I have noticed, Hyuuga really seems to care and value his friends a lot. This is just a way of a little payback for him. We'll just torture her right in front of him until he's forced to join the AAO. And once he agrees, we'll kill the girl right in front of him!" Reo replied with one of his evil laughs.

"I know that his friends are his weaknesses, but why did you get this girl? As I recall it right, she's the little nullifier who does nothing but blabber around. Why didn't you just get his best friend with the Animal Pheromone Alice?" asked a baffled Shidou.

"Well, that's because this brat is the girlfriend of Natsume and it seems that he cares for her the most. We were supposed to kidnap his sister again but for some reason, the stupid agents can't find her room so they just ended up having Sakura instead." He explained. "It also appears that she has the CSS Alice. She can also be an asset to the organization. If ever Natsume ignores our offer, we have to result in killing Natsume and then brainwashing Sakura to join the AAO and then destroy Alice Academy."

After their little conversation, they just sat there, doing different things while waiting for the time to pass until the famous little Black Cat has to arrive to their little warehouse.

"_Just get ready Black Cat. You'll surely like the present that I'll give you when you get here."_ Reo thought.

Back in the academy…

The whole gang was in the room of Hotaru and they were all doing everything that they can to help Natsume have an easier rescue trip for Mikan. Since it was already 8pm, they are all having some sort of a little meeting to make everything alright.

"Why'd you call me?" asked Natsume who has just arrived to the Ice Queen's room.

BAKA BAKA BAKA!

Hotaru shot him with her Baka Gun but Natsume just dodged every bullet perfectly.

"We called you here because we prepared some things to make your trip there easier since all of us are not able to go there with you." Ruka explained as they started giving Natsume some stuff.

"Here, take these." Anna and Nonoko said while handling them some jelly beans.

"Jelly beans?" he asked while cocking his eyebrows. "How can some pieces of candy help?"

"Anna and I combined our Alices in making those. The yellow beans can help improve your stamina. The green ones can help heal minor wounds like cuts and bruises. And then the red ones can help you use your Alice again if you're already too weak." They explained as Natsume just kept the beans.

After the two girls explained some things, Hotaru then faced Natsume while holding a bunch of inventions.

"Here. You'll be needing all of these when you go and save Mikan." Hotaru said while handing him a ring, some purple balls, ear plugs and a necklace with a flame pendant."

"Okay, now what does these little things do?" he asked while waiting for an explanation from the Blackmailer.

"That one is the invisibility ring. Turn the right to the right and you'll be invisible. Turn it to the left then you'll be back to normal. Press it on the middle then a hologram will appear on the direction where you point the ring. Those purple balls are smoke screen balls. Throw them to the ground and a purple smoke will come out. This would be good for escape purposes. The ear plugs are very useful to block out Reo's Alice. Just wear them at all times since they are barely noticeable because of your long hair. And the last item is a teleportation device. Just press the pendant and then it'll teleport you to any place that you can think of. Do you understand?" Hotaru explained.

"Hn. Thanks. I'll be going. Ja." He said as he waved his hands.

"Whoa. A Natsume Hyuuga saying 'thank you'." chorused Anna and Nonoko.

"Now that's something you don't see every day. Better mark it on your calendars." Koko declared.

"Yup. You said it." Yuu agreed while Hotaru just kept quiet and Ruka just let out a soft chuckle.

"_Natsume/Mikan, please be safe." Their friends thought._

"_Hyuuga, please bring back my idiotic best friend safe and sound."_

"_Hang in there, Mikan. I'm coming. I won't you and our friends down." _Natsume thought


	27. Rescuing their favorite brunette

CHAPTER 27: Rescuing their favorite brunette

That night, Natsume arrived at the warehouse earlier than expected.

"You're quite early Natsume." Reo said while appearing from behind one of the big crates. "It seems that you can't wait to see your little girlfriend over there." He continued while revealing a brunette with a very haggard look on her face.

"_Damn it! What did they do?! Mikan looks so tired and weak."_ He thought. "I'm the one you want from the very start so just let her go you bastard!" Natsume yelled as he started using his Alice but he failed.

"I see that patience is still one trait that you haven't learned to develop through these years. Don't even waste your energy on using your Alice since there's a barrier on this place. Listen first to what I've got to say. I have a proposal for you. if you join the AAO, your little girl will be free. And if you don't, well… we'll force you until you agree. And unless you agree, we'll torture Mikan just like this."

Then one of his agents suddenly took out a knife and cut through Mikan's shoulders as she yelped in pain.

"Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!!" Mikan screamed.

"Why you! don't you dare hurt her!" he said and then started fighting with them physically since Alice won't do.

"Now, now, there's no need to fight. Or we could just kill you and then force Mikan to join us since she's a mulit-alice user after all." Said Reo as he was dodging his punches and kicks. "Shall we now know your decision?"

"What in the freaking world are you talking about? Are you really crazy?! How can she be a multi-alice user if she only has one Alice and you know that you bastard!"

"Natsume don't do it!" Mikan shouted as Reo raised his hand and as if on cue, ske received another cut but this time, it was on her legs and she screamed again. _"Darn it! Just because of that stupid gas that he made me smell, I can't even use my Alices and it drained all my energy! Natsume, please don't agree. He'll end up killing either one of us in the end."_

Natsume just stood there in horror while witnessing the scenes where Mikan gets cuts all the time. He then silently thought for a while. _"Shit! Either way I am sure that the bastard will end up killing Mikan in the end. Think Natsume, think! I must find a way to get back to the academy with Mikan safe and sound!" _After a few moments of silence, he finally made his decision.

"Oi, I'll agree to your stupid proposal. Just let her go." He said seriously while covering his face with his bangs.

"Natsume! No! don't agree to anything he says!" Mikan yelled but it was useless. Natsume has already made up his mind. After hearing Natsume's words, Reo laughed an evil one. Mikan was free and but she can't move because she was too weak. Natsume then came rushing to Mikan's aid.

"Natsume! Why'd you agree?! He'll kill us!"

"Shhh! I have a plan. Just keep quiet and play along, okay? We'll be back in the academy in no time. Just trust me." Natsume whispered as he kissed Mikan's forehead.

"You honestly think that she could get away that easily?! Hahahahaha! Attack Hyuuga and Sakura now! Just make sure that you won't end up killing Hyuuga! We still need him after all. Just have a little fun for a while." Reo instructed as all the guards headed towards them.

Natsume started fighting all of them and Mikan forced herself to fight as well. After a few minutes, the both of them are already panting with a lot of cuts and bruises. They can't even stand on their own two feet.

"Stop it for now." Reo ordered.

Then they all stopped attacking them and just sat on an area near them and started playing cards.

"Oi, Polka, are you alright?" whispered a Natsume who was doing his best to conquer the pain.

"Hai. But what are you going to do now?" she asked, still being weak and all.

"Just keep quiet. I've got everything under control. Here, eat these." Natsume handed her the jelly beans that their friends gave him. "They're from the cooking and chemistry girls. They can help us regain our energy and use our Alice even for a while. I'll be doing something so just pretend to be asleep. okay?"

Mikan nodded then took and ate the jelly beans while Natsume just ate them as well. After eating, Natsume turned the ring to the right and he became invisible. After being invisible, the pressed the ring and a hologram of him appeared near Reo and his goons. _"Tch. So these things can really be useful after all," _Natsume thought.

"Hey! How did he get up so easily?! Beat him up right now!" ordered Reo as the goons just gave the fake Natsume punches until they passed through him and fell flat on the floor.

"That's just a hologram you dimwits! Get the real one over there!" yelled Reo as they all headed towards Natsume and Mikan's direction.

Upon hearing Reo's voice, Mikan created a nullifying barrier around her and Natsume.

"Oh no! Natsume! They're coming?! What do we do?" Mikan said while freaking out. She now regained a little strength through the jelly beans. While Mikan was freaking out, Natsume threw the purple balls at them creating a thick purple smoke. He then grabbed Mikan's hand, turned the invisibility ring on again making the two of them invisible and then they both ran outside.

"How'd you do that?" Mikan asked in wonder.

"I'll explain later. Let's go back to the academy." He then held onto Mikan tight while he pressed the flame pendant of his necklace. And then the next thing they knew, they were at Hotaru's room where everyone else was patiently waiting for their safe return.


	28. Explanations and arguments

CHAPTER 28: Explanations and arguments

The two of them were suddenly teleported on Hotaru's room. All of their friend were present and even Imai Subaru was there. Before anything else could happen, Subaru healed the two of them first until they were both healed as if nothing even happened to them.

"There. All better." Subaru said. "I'll going back to the hospital now. My patients are waiting for me."

After the healing portion, the whole gang explained to Mikan everything that has happened to them ever since the kidnapping issue occurred. And then since it was already 11pm, they all decided to go to bed and get some peaceful sleep after a very stressful day.

Mikan was walking back to room with Natsume beside her. During the walk, Mikan noticed that Natsume was awkwardly silently all throughout the hallway so she decided to ask him when she got to her room door.

"Uhm.. ano.. Natsume, why are you so quiet all of a sudden?" she asked.

Natsume then faced her with serious eyes filled with anxiety and anger.

"Polka, a while ago Reo said something about you being a multi-alice user? Is it true?" he asked in a very scary tone.

"I –I-I don't know what you're talking about." Mikan stuttered.

"Yeah right Polka Dots, and pigs could actually fly!" Natsume spoke sarcastically. "Has anyone told you that you're totally not good when it comes to lying?"

And then Natsume caged her again in the wall with his arms. His eyes were now filled with anger. "Darn it Polka Dots! Just tell the good for nothing truth!" he yelled. It was a good thing that they're the only ones living on that floor so no one could hear them.

"Natsume! Let go! You're hurting me!"

"Just tell everything and then that would be the only time that I'll let go!"

"Fine! What Reo said was true! I'm a multi-alice user! I have a 2nd Alice that makes me copy, steal and seal other Alices! I became a special star due to my 2nd Alice! And to make it more specific, I took training with Persona-sensei and I am Hazel Kitten! I was the one whom you trained with a long time ago and I was also the one who saved Aoi from the AAO! There! Are you happy now?!" Mikan shouted as tears strained her beautiful face.

"Oh, and one more thing, I am also the reason why you weren't receiving any more missions lately because I took your place!" she continued as porcelain teardrops kept on flowing through her face.

Natsume was very surprised by with what he had heard.

"Damn it Mikan! Why'd you do that! You know very well that I accepted doing missions for you and the others!" he said now letting go of his grip on the wall as he punched the wall. Blood was now dripping from his fists.

"I did it for you! I did it because I love you! I couldn't stand it whenever I see you getting hurt every after mission!" she yelled back.

"Damn it! How much more stupid could you be?! I don't even want you to get involved it this and yet you lured yourself into the darkness that I never wanted you to see! Can't that scrawny little brain of yours understand that missions are supposed to be my thing and you have absolutely nothing to do with it?! "

"All I ever wanted is to protect you. You could at least show a bit gratitude by saving your life because if I hadn't came into the picture, you would still be doing those stupid missions while it's draining your life! After doing all of these, all I ever get is someone yelling and lecturing me about the things that I chose to do. Well, if you'll excuse me, I need to go to rest now."

Mikan then turned her back, entered the room and then locked the door leaving a shocked and speechless Natsume outside. She then fell on the floor and cried her heart out. _"I'm so sorry Natsume. I didn't mean to yell at you and keep this a secret. I was just trying to protect you. I just don't want to see you suffering all because of these things."_

She then just kept crying on the floor letting out tiny, soft sobs while leaning on the door. From the outside, Natsume can hear her crying.

"Mikan! Open the damn door! Can we just talk about this?" Natsume said while banging on the door but Mikan kept the door locked. "Darn it Polka Dots! If you don't open this door I'll burn it up!" he then tried to burn the door but he failed. It seems that Mikan has nullified everything near her.

"Go away you *sobs* big meanie! *sobs* Leave me alone!" Mikan yelled in between her sobs. "I don't *sobs* need someone *sobs* who's as inconsiderate as *sobs* you and I *sobs* also don't need someone *sobs* who would yell *sobs* at me all night. Just *sobs* go to *sobs* sleep!"

Natsume just sighed in defeat. There was no way that he would be able to talk to her in that situation so he just headed to his room to think things out. He then slowly drifted to sleep after a few minutes. Meanwhile, Mikan got her phone and then dialed Hotaru's number. Hotaru sensed that there's something wrong with Mikan so she just let her go to her room for the night.

After a few minutes, a tear strained Mikan appeared right in front of Hotaru's front door. Hotaru immediately hugged and comforted her best friend.

"Shhh. It'll be fine. Don't cry. You'll look uglier so just forget about that guy and relax." Hotaru hushed her as if she was a mom trying to calm a baby having a tantrum.

After a few minutes, Mikan finally calmed down as she sat on Hotaru's couch while handing her a box of water.

"Now, are you ready to tell me what happened or would just prefer telling me tomorrow and get some rest tonight? You've had a pretty rough day, after all." She asked while Mikan just shrugged. She told Hotaru everything that happened from the very start not even missing a single detail.

"Well, Hyuuga just probably over reacted from what he heard. You should get some sleep. Don't worry. Everything will be fine in the end. Just be true to yourself and to your heart as well." She said as she led Mikan to her bed and tucked her in. "You better sleep unless you want to have panda eyes in the morning. You don't want to make everyone worry, don't you?" She then turned off the lights and went to sleep beside her best friend in her queen sized bed.

"_That stupid Hyuuga better be prepared for my Baka Bazooka 3000 tomorrow for making this idiot cry. He'll be my first victim and he has a whole lot of patching up to do." _Hotaru thought before she slept.


	29. Avoiding each other and anothe mission

CHAPTER 29: Avoiding each other and another mission

The next day, everyone else was already present except for the Ice Queen and the nullifier. The bell was about to ring and the two best friends were not yet there and all of their friends were worried sick for them since it is not like the two of them to be that late.

"_Where could Mikan/Hotaru be?" _they all thought.

The bell just rang and then Mr. Narumi entered the room along with the two girls. They sat silently towards their seats when Hotaru signaled Mikan to read her mind.

"_Oi, don't do anything stupid. Okay? Everything will be fine. Just take it easy."_

Mikan just smiled as she read her mind and then mouthed a simple "Thank You" to her best friend. _"I'm really lucky to have Hotaru. But it seems that Natsume's still mad at me. *sigh* I guess I should just avoid him for the meantime since I don't want to be yelled at for the whole day." _Mikan thought as she seated to her seat, not even minding her seatmate – Natsume.

"_Huh? Something is definitely wrong." _Their friends thought.

"_What happened to Mikan-nee and onii-chan? How come they seem to be so distant from each other?"_ Aoi thought as she took a glance from her friends as if asking them if they know anything but she just got a shrug from all of them. _"*sigh* I guess I just have to find out by myself after class."_

Soon as the class ended, the gang decided to go to Central Town to cheer up their gloomy friend.

"Hey Mi-chan! Wanna come to Central Town with us?" asked Anna.

"Yeah! It'll surely be fine!" added Nonoko.

Mikan just gave them a small and faint smile and said "I'm sorry guys. Uhm… But Hotaru, Aoi and I have to do something so I can't come today. Well, see you around!" she then left while Hotaru and Aoi were following her from behind. Natsume just stared at her retreating figure of Mikan.

"_Tch. That baka has been avoiding me the whole day." _Natsume thought as he left heading towards the Sakura Tree. No one dared to ask him or Mikan until Ruka spoke.

"Just give then some time. Looks like they have a quarrel or something and they really need to think things out for everything to be alright between them."

"How'd you know?" asked Yuu

"Well, Natsume's my best friend. I've known him since we were in diapers. And even if he doesn't tell me things, I definitely know what's going on with him."

"Well, whatever their argument may be, it must be REALLY big." Anna concluded.

"Anna's right. It's not like for the normal Mikan to be avoiding someone the whole day and she even refused a trip to Central Town."

"Angel is right. Mikan always goes to Central Town no matter what mood she's in. And I can't read their minds a while ago. Mikan seems to be nullifying even the mind of Hotaru."

"Well, whatever mess they're in right now, let's just hope the best for the both of them." Yuu declared.

"Yeah." Ruka answered. _"I just hope that Natsume will really be able to patch things up between the two of them."_

Mikan, Hotaru and Aoi were now in Hotaru's lab. They just sat there in silence until Aoi decided to break it.

"Could anyone of you please tell me what the heck is happening?! How come everything seems weird and why is Mikan-nee so down in the dumps and why does it look like Mikan-nee is avoiding onii-chan?" Aoi suddenly blurted out.

And then the story telling session began. Hotaru explained everything to Aoi since she's also the one who knows about the 2nd Alice of Mikan and since Mikan will just get more depressed if she told the story all over again. Upon hearing the story, Aoi got shocked because she never thought that her brother would say such harsh words to her.

They just sat there in silence again until they heard that the phone of Mikan beeped. Hotaru and Aoi then looked at Mikan who read who the message was from.

"Who was it from, Mikan?" asked Hotaru.

Mikan then glanced at the phone once more just to make sure if she read the right name.

"It's from Persona-sensei."

"What does it say Mikan-nee?" asked a very curious but worried Aoi and Mikan then read the message.

"Hazel Kitten, you have a type A mission tonight at ten. We'll meet at the usual meeting place in the Northern Forest. Be sure to get enough rest this afternoon since you'll be needing your energy later on this evening. I expect you to go there on time. Ja."

"So another mission huh?" Hotaru suddenly said. "What's it for this time?"

"I don't know. Sensei usually gives the details when we get to the meeting place." She quietly answered.

"But Mikan-nee, are you sure that you can do missions at this state? I mean, you have just got kidnapped by Reo after all." Aoi said whie worry was very visible in her face.

"I can handle this Aoi-chan so there's nothing to worry about. And besides, this mission might as well help to forget about Natsume for the meantime." She replied. "Well, I guess I'll head to my room now and get some sleep before leaving. Please don't tell anyone where I am."

"What if Natsume asks us? He knows that you're doing missions." Asked Hotaru.

"I don't know. Just make an excuse Hotaru. If you're the one who told him, I guess he wouldn't be suspicious." She said as she left the room.

"*sigh* I just hope that that idiot would be alright. She better not do anything stupid when she's on that mission." Hotaru mumbled.

"Don't worry Hotaru-nee. Mikan said she can handle herself. I guess she'll be alright since she's already used to taking up missions of all types." Reassured Aoi. _"I just hope that Mikan-nee would be safe and that Natsume-nii would be able to work things out with her before it's too late."_

"I know. It's just that, I have a really bad feeling about this one." She replied. _"Mikan, please be careful. I've had this feeling when we were young when you almost left me and grandpa. Please don't let that happen again."_


	30. Starts of mission & a piece of advice

CHAPTER 30: Start of the mission and a piece of advice

That night, Mikan went to the Northern Forest at 10pm sharp only to see Persona and the selected DA class who were taking up missions. Everything was fine for her until she saw someone at about her age, wearing the same uniform and with a Black Cat mask on.

"I'm here sensei. What's the mission all about and what are they doing here?" Mikan asked coldly.

Persona then clapped his hands twice to get everyone's attention and then started to speak. "Now that everyone is present, I will begin the announcement. Tonight, the most dangerous mission will be taken. And the whole department of teachers has decided that the strongest student will be the one to do it, which is Hazel Kitten."

Everyone was quietly listening to him until Mikan asked something.

"So what will it be then? The earlier I start, the earlier I would finish."

"You have to retrieve a microchip that was stolen a couple of days ago. It contains the weaknesses of each student here in the academy. If that microchip was opened by the AAO, they would have an easier way in attacking the academy. And since it's in the main headquarters, I will provide you this homing device." He explained as he handed her a bracelet with a white crystal in the middle.

"What's the homing device for?" she asked while accepting the bracelet. She then placed it on her right wrist.

"If the worst comes to worse like having too much injuries would happen and that you have no more strength left to come back to the academy, just press the crystal and then it would send us a signal and some reinforcements would be sent there to your location to help you get back to the academy."

"Okay then." She said as she was about to teleport herself to the headquarters, she whispered something only enough for Persona to hear. "If ever I need reinforcements, send anyone as long as it's not Hyuuga. Is it alright sensei?"

Persona just gave a small nod and then she teleported herself to her destination.

"Okay, now that Hazel Kitten is gone, you may go back to your rooms. I'll just call you if you're needed. And Kuro Neko, please stay for a while." He instructed as everyone else vanished.

"What do you want now? I'm not in the mood to talk to you." Natsume groaned.

"I see that you and your little girlfriend have a little lovers' quarrel. Before she left she told me that if ever she needs reinforcements, I'd call on anyone as long as it's not you." Persona said. "Don't get me wrong Natsume, I just want to give you a piece of advice."

"Whatever Polka and I have right now definitely has nothing to deal with you so mind your own damn business." Natsume retorted.

"Just listen for a bit. I know that you two fought about her taking your place in the missions since all you ever wanted is to protect her so that she won't be the one doing it." Persona said as Natsume just stood there in silence. "You know, you're really lucky to have a girl like her. She's smart, beautiful, caring, tough, and understanding. She's practically the girl that every guy dreams of. You should just give her a break. She did this for you after all." He continued.

"She knew very well that your Alice is draining your lifespan so she made up her decision. At first she was hesitating about the mission stuff since she knew that it was dangerous but she suddenly remembered you. I was supposed to give her the light ones but then she decided to do some training with me she even said that she would agree to do all missions as long as you would stop doing them and that I won't hurt her friends." Persona explained while Natsume just stared at him with shock.

"Whatever. I'm going." Natsume replied as he started walking towards the dormitory.

"I see that you're as stubborn as always. You should really work things out between the two of you before it's too late. Pride won't do anything to help you right now." Persona said to the retreating figure of Natsume.

"_Tch. I'm really stupid. I just hope that Mikan would return back safely so that I could work things out."_

Mikan arrived at the warehouse. As soon as she got there, she immediately used her X-ray vision Alice to see how much lasers and alarms while scanning the whole area.

"Looks like this'll be harder than I thought. There are lasers on all floors and doors. Even the stupid windows have alarms and metal bars. Sheesh. This place sure is the main headquarters. The security is way too tight and there are stupid guards everywhere." She murmured to herself while standing on one of the tree branches.

"Oh well. Here goes nothing. I better get started." She said as she leapt from tree to tree while going nearer the building.

Meanwhile, our Ice Queen is busy building and assembling her inventions until she heard a knock on the door revealing a crimson eyes lad right in front of her.

BAKA BAKA BAKA!

Natsume was able to dodge the first two bullets but got hit in the stomach with the third one. "I guess I deserve that." He mumbled while he entered the lab.

"What the heck brings you here? And before you answer that, you have a whole of explanations to do. Do you even realize what you did to my best friend? She was crying her eyes and heart out that night!"

"I know. And I'm sorry. I guess anger took the best of me that time." He said in a low tone while covering his face with his bangs.

"Yeah right. Don't tell me that. Apologize to her and not me." she retorted calmly.

"I would if she's here."

"Then let's just hope for her safe return. I've been having this bad feeling about her and the last time I've had this feeling was when we were still 6 years old. I don't want what happened in the past to happen again."

"What happened anyway?"

FLASHBACK:

It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon while a young Hotaru was reading a book quietly and then Mikan was out climbing a tree. _"Huh? How come I got this bad feeling about Mikan? I hope she's fine." _

After a few minutes, a whole crowd was over near a tree. Hotaru and grandpa then went out to check what happened until they were surprised to see an unconscious Mikan who was bleeding badly. She fell from the tree while trying to return a birdie that fell back to its nest.

Mikan was unconscious for 3 days and on the third day in the hospital, she went critical and the machine that indicates the life of the patient suddenly became a flat line with a very irritating tone. Hotaru and grandpa's heart sank upon witnessing the doctors revive Mikan's dead body. It took the doctors about ten minutes to revive her body. It was a good thing that she came back to life.

END OF FLASHBACK


	31. My worst mission ever

CHAPTER 31: My worst mission ever

Mikan activated her Invisibility Alice and then put on a nullifying barrier around her. She then flew to the second floor of the building since she found out that the microchip was being kept in a vault at the back of a picture frame in the leader's room which is the second one to the right of the second floor.

She saw that there are a few people in the room so she waited for them to leave. She then used her Through Alice to pass through the wall and then the Float Alice to make herself float so that she won't touch the lasers on the floor. She used her Levitation Alice to move the frame and then used the Laser Beam Alice to open the vault. This triggered an alarm but she quickly took the microchip and hid it.

"_Oh no! Tha alarm was on! I better get out of here!" _she thought until she heard voices behind her.

"Stop right there! We know that you have the microchip so hand it over so nobody gets hurt!"

Mikan turned around to see men surrounding her all over. _"Geeze! Goons and cronies. Oh great, just what I really needed." _She thought.

"I said stop right there! Hand over the chip!" the agent yelled.

"Yeah right, as if I'll be giving it to you." she said while activating her Ice Alice to freeze everyone in place and then she flew away through the door.

While she was flying, she noticed that she was having a hard time to control her Alice and that's the only time that she realized that there's a barrier even stronger than her Nullifying Alice. She then landed on the ground while more agents were following her and they started attacking her with their Alice.

"_I guess I have no other choice but to fight all of 'em." _She thought. _"I just hope that I still have enough energy left to beat these guys. Using my Alice under their barrier is already taking too much of my energy."_

She then activated her Strength, Fight, and Agility Alice and then started throwing punches at all of the agents while dodging the other attacks. After a few minutes, all of her enemies fell flat on the floor. Some of them are bleeding and then some of them were unconscious while Mikan was panting.

"_I better head back now, if this will stay any longer I might collapse or something." _She thought until she heard a very familiar voice behind her.

"I see you were able to beat all of them. You really are good with your Alices as of now. I'm impressed Mikan."

"_Huh? What the? I know that voice." _She thought as she faced her back revealing a person who has the Voice Pheromone Alice whom she detested the most.

"What are you up to now, Reo?" she asked with a tint of anger in her voice.

"You still have the energy to stand up little kitty. I'm pretty impressed. Using your Alice within our super barrier is already making you weak. I bet you can't even use your Alice anymore since your deadbeat and your Alice depends on your energy level." He said.

"_He's right. I don't even think I can still fight this dimwit. I better get away from here and go back to the academy since I already have the chip."_

"Whatever, Reo. I don't have time to mess around with people like you. As you can see, I've already beaten up your cronies so you might as well run along and leave if you still want your precious life." Mikan shot back while turning her back ready to run away and head back to the academy

"STOP!" Reo yelled while using his Alice on Mikan. "Get back here!" he ordered as Mikan's body became stiff and started walking backwards.

"_Shit! I don't even have the energy to nullify his voice pheromone! If I don't do anything fast I'm gonna die for sure!"_ she thought while concentrating and thinking very hard on what to do to spare her life.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. You don't think you can escape that easily, do you? You see, I plan on destroying the academy and the chip that you have is my key to success. Apparently, these guards are stupid to let a puny little girl beat them so I have to finish the job by myself."

HOTARU'S ROOM

"Where on earth is that baka?" she mumbled while walking all over the room. "What's taking her so long? She usually goes back after an hour every time she has a stupid mission."

"Hn. Could you just stop walking around the room, you're making me dizzy." Natsume replied as Hotaru just gave him a death glare.

"I'm just worried about your little girlfriend. She tends to do stupid things most of the time, you know. Come to think of it, are you still his boyfriend?" she asked as Natsume just stared at the other side.

"I don't know. With the things that I've told her last night, I think she won't even talk to me ever again." He said in a very low voice. "I just hope that she gets back safely so that I could apologize properly."

"Wow, a Hyuuga apologizing to someone. That's something that doesn't happen every day." She mocked.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!" Mikan yelled. Reo was taking advantage that she's too weak to nullify his Alice so he was torturing her and making her attack herself with her own Alice.

"Now, make some Ice Daggers and hit yourself and then use your Fly Alice to raise your body and then deactivate that Alice once you're 15 feet off the ground." He instructed as Mikan body obediently followed even though it's against her will.

She fell flat on the floor, with many wounds, cuts and bruises. She's bleeding like there's no tomorrow and she can't even do anything.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA! How'd you like my little game Mikan? I figured out that I'd play for a bit before retrieving the chip from you. Well, I definitely enjoyed it. Look at you, you can't even move an inch! HAHAHA!" Reo stated while was laughing like a lunatic.

He was busy laughing his eyes out that he didn't notice that Mikan was concentrating on her Alice.

"_Well,I guess I should just use up my last energy on this last attack." _She thought as she closed her eyes and then she started to glow a bright silvery white color. She then floated in the air and all of the limiting devices that she's wearing were broken all at once. This caught the eyes of Reo and he was totally shocked.

"What?! This can't be happening!" he yelled.

"It's already happening you twerp! Never underestimate someone like me!" she yelled as the light hit Reo and in a split second, an ear-piercing scream was heard from him and then he died immediately. Mikan then fell to ground, panting real hard. She then forced herself to teleport herself back to the academy.


	32. Hospital happenings

CHAPTER 32: Hospital happenings

Hotaru and Natsume now have worried looks upon their faces all because a special girl in their life is still not coming back from her mission. Hotaru is still pacing back and forth all over her room giving Natsume a headache while the Black Cat just sat at the edge of her bed, silently waiting. But in his mind, he's cursing because he keeps on saying that if ever something bad happens to the brunette, he'll never forgive himself.

While they are busy thinking of where their friend might be, a blinding silvery white colored light suddenly appeared right in front of Hotaru. Once the light was gone, there they both saw a Mikan that looked really weak and has a lot of wounds all over her body.

"Mikan" they both whispered.

"Ho…ta…ru…" Mikan weakly said in a very silent voice and then she collapsed. Hotaru was able to catch her fall only to find a wide-eyed Natsume staring at the two of them. She then took her energy meter and then read the result. "2%"

"Don't just sit there, help me bring her to the hospital." She ordered as Natsume quickly carried her bridal style, rode to Hotaru's duck scooter and then they fled to the hospital building.

At the hospital…

The two of them were now on the waiting area while Subaru Imai and the doctors were treating her wounds. After a few minutes, all of their friends were with them in the waiting area asking if she was alright. Even Mr. Narumi, Mr. Jinno and Persona were there with them. After a few more minutes, Subaru went out of the room.

"Brother, how's Mikan doing?" Hotaru calmly asked.

"To be honest, she's not doing pretty well." He replied while the others gasped in horror. "She's of the fifth type Alice right? And it looks like the term 'Alice Overuse' has occurred to her. There's a lesser chance that she'll live. She's used too much of her energy and Alice and she also lost too much blood." He explained while Anna and Nonoko were already crying while Koko and Yuu were comforting them.

The guys just stayed quiet while they were comforting their girlfriends. Hotaru was also crying but not as much as Anna and Nonoko. She just let out a small and silent sob while Ruka was there by her side and Natsume just stared out the window.

"Is there any way that Mikan would be saved?" asked Narumi.

"Well, there might be a way. You see, she's lost a lot of blood so a blood donor would help a lot." He said.

"What's the blood type of Sakura?" Jinno asked.

"Well, she's type AB+. Is there anyone of you who has this exact blood type?"

"I'm type B-." Jinno and Narumi said together.

"I'm type O+." Persona said.

"I'm type A-." Ruka said.

"I'm the same with Ruka." said Yuu.

"Me too." Koko and Nonoko added.

"I'm type O+." Hotaru stated.

"I'm type B also." Said Anna.

All of their hope faded since they knew no one matches Mikan's blood type until they heard someone speak up.

"I'm type AB+. Get blood from me." Natsume stated.

"Are you sure?" asked Subaru.

"Just get my damn blood. If you need all of it then get it!" he said with a serious voice while covering her bangs. "I don't care if I'll get weak or something just make sure that she'll live."

And with that, they both left to take Natsume's blood for Mikan while the others just stayed there praying that their friend will be okay.

The doctors and Subaru were able to get 4 packs of blood from Natsume. They transferred the blood into Mikan's body right away but it was not enough so Natsume insisted the doctors to get more blood from him. They took out 3 packs more which made Natsume really dizzy and weak. After a few hours, Natsume woke up in a private hospital room seeing Ruka and his guy friends who are watching over him.

"Natsume, you're finally awake. You were sleeping after the blood donation thing. You've been asleep all night. It's already 8 in the morning. Is there anything that you want?" asked his best friend.

"I'm fine, Ruka. Where's Mikan? What happened to her? Is she alright?" he asked.

"She's still asleep and she's in the other room. The girls and Mr. Narumi are watching over her." Yuu replied as he placed a blanket over Koko since he fell asleep. Natsume then forced himself to stand up but Ruka held his shoulders and then laid him back to bed.

"Don't do hasty stuff, Natsume. You're still weak. You've given Mikan almost half of the blood that's in your body. If you would still stay stubborn you might end up getting sick as well." Ruka lectured. "Ruka's right. You'll just end up staying in that hospital bed longer than expected." Yuu added

"I don't care. I just wanna see her." He spoke softly as he forced himself to stand but he fell on Ruka's shoulders since he didn't have enough strength to even walk.

"I already told you not to force yourself." Ruka said as he sat Natsume on his bed. "Do you even think that Mikan will be happy if you're doing this? You're just hurting yourself even more. Mikan wants all of us to be safe that's why she did those things so you better lie down and rest until your energy returns."

"I don't even think that she cares about me anymore." Natsume retorted while staring at the floor.

"Don't say that. Mikan loves each and every one of us and she never holds a grudge over anyone."  
Yuu stated. "Yuu's right. Even though you two had a fight, I'm sure that it'll be ok in the end. So just rest and pray for her speedy recovery." Ruka added.

Meanwhile, everyone in Mikan's room already fell asleep since they are all tired. Anna and Nonoko fell asleep on the bed; Mr. Narumi was sleeping in a sitting position on the chair near the door while Hotaru was the only one awake. She was sitting beside her best friend while stroking her beautiful auburn hair.

"_Mikan, please wake up soon. You're making everyone worried sick you baka. I know that you're a strong person so please hang in there. Everyone is waiting for you so you better wake up." _She thought as she let out a small sigh.


	33. Don't leave us

CHAPTER 33: Don't leave us

It has been three days since Mikan has been confined in the hospital. Natsume was discharged the day he woke up. All of them were now looking over Mikan. They are all taking turns since they needed time to rest as well. The whole gang was exempted from all of their classes since they need to take care of her.

That afternoon, Natsume, Hotaru, Ruka, Anna, Yuu, Koko, Nonoko and Mr. Narumi was there when Subaru checked up on her.

"Brother, how's she doing? Will she wake up soon?" Hotaru asked.

"She's fine. She can already breathe without the respirator. She's made a lot of improvements so far." He replied.

"So, when is she going to wake up, Imai-san?" asked Anna.

"Actually, she can wake up anytime now." he stated as the others gave a sigh of relief. "But as I have noticed, it seems that the patient here does not even want to wake up anymore."

"What do you mean by that?" asked Ruka.

"There are some cases that a person will only wake up if he has the will to live again. And Mikan here is one of those people. But based from the tests that we took, it looks like she doesn't want to live anymore."

"How come?" asked Narumi.

"Well, it could be possible that she has a lot of problems whether physically, mentally or even emotionally. These are the things that trigger her will to live again. And as of now, it seems that Mikan is physically and emotionally stressed. She's really worn out with all of the missions and school stuff and it seems that she has problems of her own."

"How are we going to make her want to live again? It's still way too early for her to… you know… die… and I don't want that to happen." asked Hotaru.

"You could talk to her even if she's asleep. It is true that even if a patient is unconscious, his hearing senses still functions very well. You could talk to your best friend and tell her about the things that are worth living. You could encourage her more so that she would reconsider about living again. But if there's really no progress with all of the encouraging that you're doing within three days more, she might leave us permanently."

The last five words of Subaru struck everyone inside the room. This made them all worry even more.

"Well, I'll be leaving now. My other patients are still waiting for me. Just press the red button if you need something or just go to the nurses' station next door. Ja." Subaru said as he left the room.

After a little while, everyone else left as well since they also need a rest.

The person who was left in charge in looking after Mikan is Natsume. He quietly sat beside his girlfriend. He was stroking her auburn locks while holding her other hand.

"Hey, I know that you're still asleep but I also know that you can hear me." he said. "I just want you to know that I'm sorry. I really am. I know that you've been avoiding me lately and I can't blame you for that. I've been a stupid jerk without even considering your side of the story. And now, I look more of a lunatic apologizing to someone who's asleep. From the very start, I've always wanted to protect you but you were the one who ended up protecting me instead. As of now, I only wish for your fast recovery so that I could fix things because if something bad happens to you, I swear that would not be able to forgive myself. I know I haven't said these words to you since the day you became my girl, but I just want you to know that I love you and I'll always will. So please wake up. Everyone else is waiting for you. I'm waiting for you. I don't want you to die, Mikan. I… I need you. I don't know what to do if ever you left us."

He then became quiet and just stared at her face. Ha admitted to himself that she still looks beautiful even if there are tubes and needles that are connected to her body. He admired her beauty until something he saw startled him. A porcelain tear suddenly glided down through her pale cheeks. He just smiled a small smile since he knew that Mikan heard him very clearly.

The next day was a Saturday so every one of Mikan's friends was there in her room. No one knew about the teardrop thing since Natsume decided to keep it his little secret but from that day on, he was filled with much hope that Mikan will be back very soon.

That afternoon, everyone decided to buy some snacks at the hospital café. Hotaru was left behind to take care of Mikan so Ruka will be the one who will pick for the food of Hotaru.

"Hey Mikan. Everyone misses you already, so come back here with us, okay? Even Hyuuga is already having a hard time. We all miss that bubbly and energetic Mikan that we used to know so please get well soon." Hotaru whispered. "And I miss you a lot too. A whole lot, to be exact. I miss the way you hug me, bother me, and the way you cheer me up. I practically miss everything about you. So do your best to recover. We are all expecting for your return. Life would never be the same if you."

After a few minutes of silence, Hotaru then heard something. It was a sound that was very familiar to her. It was the sound of the machine which indicates whether the patient is still alive or not. She then looked at it and she saw a flat horizontal green line. She stared at it in horror as she pressed the button on the wall calling the doctors and then she ran to the nurses' station. The doctors hurriedly went to her room to do whatever they can to save Mikan while Hotaru sat at the waiting area crying while praying for her friend to be safe.

"Hotaru?! What's wrong?" asked a worried Ruka the minute he saw her crying at the waiting area.

"F-flat line… n-not breathing… Mi-mikan…" she mumbled as tears were flowing down her white face.

They all faced her room window while witnessing the doctors revive her dead body. Once they saw the scene, Anna & Nonoko burst into crying as well while Yuu & Koko had sad faces while comforting their girlfriends. Natsume just bowed down his head as tears suddenly flowed until he can't take it anymore.

"No! This can't be happening! Damn it Polka Dots! Don't leave all of us! We need you!" he yelled as he burst out into tears. "I need you." he then whispered. "Mikkkkaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnn!!!!"

Everyone then went to the hospital chapel to pray for Mikan while the doctors are doing the best that they can do to make sure that she'll be okay.


	34. An angel friend

CHAPTER 34: An angel friend

Mikan was walking an empty white hallway. She was wearing a white dress that reached three inches above her knees. The dress has laces at the hem of the skirt and there was a ribbon on her petite waist which was tied at her back. Her hair was laid down and it reaches her waist.

"Hello? Hotaru? Natsume? Are you there? Where are you guys? Is anyone here?" she kept on asking while walking until someone appeared right in front of her. The man was also wearing an all white outfit bit he has wings at his back.

"Excuse me, I'm Mikan, could you please tell me where am I and where can I find my friends? I seem to be lost and it seems that you're the only person here." Mikan asked politely.

"Hi. I'm Kenji, and I am an angel, you are near the main gateway to heaven." The angel replied.

"Sugoi! An angel! You are so kawaii! What's it like to be in heaven, Kenji-san?" she asked. _"Uhm… How come this angel seems to be familiar? I think I have seen this angel before. I just cannot remember when."_

"Well, heaven is a place where everyone can be truly happy. It is a place where people could just simply forget about all of their problems and other worries. You can just enjoy life the way it is."

"Wow! Can I go there in heaven? Is my grandpa there?"

"Yes. Your grandpa is a really friendly one. He always looks after you and Hotaru. He's also an angel just like me and the others."

"Really? Can I go there in heaven? I really wanna see my grandpa. I miss him a lot."

"Of course you can, Mikan. With that kind heart of yours, you are very much welcome in our humble home. But once you enter the gate, you can never come back to earth since that's the rule."

"Huh? Why?"

"To be able to get to heaven, you have to be an angel just like me, your grandpa and everyone else. It's the only thing that you should do."

"So that means that I'm gonna die?" asked a very puzzled Mikan. _"If I die, I won't be able to see everyone else and I don't want that to happen. But I really want to see grandpa."_

"Actually, you are dead as of now. If you want to know further, you should try to take a look at this scene." Kenji replied while flicking his fingers as a screen started to appear. It was the current state of her friends who were all crying because they are trying to revive Mikan's body.

"Huh? How come everyone is sad? They are all crying. What is happening over there?" she asked as horror struck her face when she saw her body being revived by the doctors. "So does that mean that I'm already d-dead?" she quietly asked.

"Not yet. This is sort of the transition period just like what you had when you were six. If you still remember, I'm the same angel that talked to you when you fell from a tree when you were younger. So I'm going to ask you again, do you want to join your grandpa here in heaven or would you still prefer staying there on earth?" Kenji explained.

"I don't know. I really want to go to heaven but I also want to see my friends again. But if I go back to earth, things will never be the same since Natsume seems to be mad at me since I kept it a very big secret from him." She replied sadly.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, a part of me wants to stay on earth since I don't want to leave them because I know that they will definitely be sad but a part of me really wants to go to heaven since I really want to see how grandpa is doing and how people or should I say angels live there. And at least there, I would be able to forget all of my worries just like my problem that I have with Natsume.

"What makes you think that he's mad at you?"

"Because he shouted at me. His eyes were so scary. It's as if he could kill me just by glaring at me. He even punched the wall. He never did that to me before so I guess that I really messed up that time."

"He's not mad at you, Mikan."

"How would you know? Are you psychic or someone that can read people's minds just like Koko?"

"No. it's because I can see through the true auras of people. And based from what I am seeing right now, he doesn't even hate you for a little bit. So what would your decision be?" asked Kenji.

Mikan started thinking since she was still having some hesitations. And then she suddenly remembered all of the memories she had with all of her friends.

"I have decided already, Kenji-san."

"What is it?"

She then whispered her decision to Kenji.

"Are you sure about this one?" asked the angel.

"Hai. Hotaru once told me that everything will be fine when it comes to me. She also said once that even if I am an idiot, I am still able to go through all the problems no matter how idiotic the process may seem. I may have a bit of trouble with this decision of mine but I'm sure that I can manage." She said with one of her smiles.

"But are you going to be happy with this one? You said so yourself that you're having some slight problems. Are you sure that this is the best option?"

"Hai. I know that no matter what decision I make, grandpa would be happy for me and I would also be happy in my own little way. So I guess that choosing this choice will not do any harm. As Hotaru has said, everything will be alright."

"Okay then. Good luck for you then."

"Uh-huh. Thank you as well, Kenji-san."


	35. Return for the second time around

CHAPTER 35: Return for the second time around

HOSPITAL…

The doctors did everything that they can to revive their precious brunette. But it seems that everything that they can but nothing was working. They were even using the Healing Alice while reviving her but it was no use. So they just left the room and told her friends.

"How is she?" Hotaru asked.

"Sorry. We did everything that we could but it seems that every effort was futile." Subaru said as he started walking away.

Upon hearing the news, all of them broke down. They were all crying their hearts out since they cannot accept the fact that their friend has already passed away. Even the guys are still crying, and Persona was not an exemption. Everyone was busy grieving and that they didn't notice Natsume enter Mikan's room.

"Oi, Polka Dots! Wake up! You can't leave us now! Don't leave me!" Natsume yelled upon entering the room but he got no response. He stood there still, looking at her girlfriend's face while tears flowed passed through his cheeks. A few moments of silence, he suddenly heard something. It was a beeping sound. He then looked at the machine. The machine that once had a flat line now had zigzag lines on it.

He was shocked with what he has seen. He then saw Mikan who was opening her eyes slowly.

"Na… Natsume? Where… am… I? she asked in a very weak voice.

Natsume then suddenly hugged her.

"Nat… Sume… Too tight… Can't breathe…" she said in between her breaths as he let go of her gently.

"Sorry. I was just so happy that you're back. I thought you will leave us permanently." He replied.

Before Mikan could even reply to what Natsume have said, everyone from her gang went in to check on her. They now have teary eyes. But these tears are now tears of joy since they knew that a very important person in their life is still alive. Narumi then instantly called Subaru to check up on Mikan.

After a few minutes, Subaru then came in. He did some tests to make sure if everything else about Mikan is alright.

"It was a miracle that she was able to live again. She's in pretty good shape and she only needs to rest for a few days until she regains her energy. Well, I gotta go now. Ja."

After a few minutes, the whole group chatted with each other since they missed Mikan a lot.

"I guess that would be enough everyone. Mikan-chan still needs to rest and you need to get some sleep as well." Announced Mr. Narumi as everyone bid their goodbyes but Hotaru and Natsume were left behind since they volunteered to take care of Mikan.

"Demo, you don't have Hotaru. You guys need to rest as well. You've been stressing yourselves all because of me." said Mikan.

"Baka. We're fine. Now go to rest. You need it more than we do. Look at Hyuuga over there. He's already drifted to sleep." Hotaru answered while they both looked at Natsume who was now in a sitting position but his eyes are closed. But little did they know that Natsume was just pretending to sleep.

"Hai. Oh, do you remember the time when I fell off a tree and I hurt my head then they rushed me to the hospital too?" she asked while Hotaru simply nodded.

"Well, I met an angel a while ago. I was wondering why the face was so familiar. And then he told me that he was also the same angel that I met when I was six." She continued. "He was inviting me to go to heaven with him so that I could be an angel as well just like him and grandpa."

Hotaru just sat there in silence while Natsume was still there pretending to be asleep while he was also listening to what Mikan was talking about.

"What did you say?" asked Hotaru.

"Well, I really wanted to go with him that time. But then again a part of me was saying yes while a part of me was saying no. it was a yes since I want to see heaven and I want to be an angel too. It was a no since the angel told me that if ever I went there, I won't be able to see you again since I'll be staying there with them forever."

"So what was your decision?"

"At first, I really wanted to go back to earth with you guys. But I was kind of hesitant in returning since I know that things will never be the same since Natsume is mad at me all because of the mission thing. But then again, remembered something that you told me when we were 13. And that's the thing that convinced me to come back here. I just really hope that everything will be alright."

"Baka. Of course everything will be alright. But what was the thing that I said that you remembered that made you come back?" asked Hotaru.

"You told me once that I am really an idiot. But even though I am an idiot, I can always find ways to solve each problem no matter how idiotic the process may seem. Once I remembered that, all the memories that I have had with you guys suddenly came to me. And then I told Angel Kenji that I'll still stay here with you guys and I know that grandpa will be happy with the decision that I've made even though I can't join him in heaven that time." Mikan said softly so that Natsume won't wake up.

"So you do have a good memory. You can still remember that huh?" she said with a smile.

"Of course. How could I forget? Hahah. That line helps me a lot, you know. Somehow, your words and Natsume's words are always helping get through the tough time in my life. And the presence and concern of our friends helps a lot too. I'm really lucky that I have you guys. But now, I don't think that things between me and Natsume would still be the same."

"Why?" asked a puzzled Hotaru.

"Well, I think he's still mad at me. I haven't gotten the chance to even talk to him properly today. And to think that I've been unconscious for many days already. I've told him practically everything that night and it seems that he's so mad." Mikan stated. "But there was a time when I think I heard Natsume's voice while I was asleep. I don't know if it was just a dream or if it was real."

"What did he say?"

"It's something that a normal Natsume wouldn't say anyway so I guess I was just dreaming that time. But there was a time that I think I heard him shout out my name. And then I saw all of you crying and such so I came back to see what was wrong." Mikan said while yawning.

"You should sleep now. Let's talk tomorrow. You still need to regain your strength. Goodnight Mikan."

"Goodnight Hotaru."


	36. A little tree talk

CHAPTER 36: A little tree-talk

It has been a week and Mikan is now staying in her room since she insisted that she will be able to recover much faster if she is not in a hospital room. And since Mikan can already take care of herself, all of her friends were now required to attend their classes. It was a bright Monday morning and everyone else was in class except for Mikan since everyone else knows that she's still excused for being absent. And then Narumi entered the class.

"Ohayo class. I have an announcement for you. I don't know if this will be considered as good or bad news. It all depends on how you interpret it." He explained as the whole class just gave him a puzzled look except for Hotaru, Aoi and Natsume who was as calm as ever.

"You may come in now." he said as a very familiar brunette appeared right in front of them.

"Hello everyone. How have you been? I miss you a lot!" Mikan said with the very bright smile that everyone missed. The class was very surprised and happy at the same time since they knew that their favorite and bubbly little classmate was with them again.

BAKA BAKA BAKA BAKA BAKA!

Hotaru shot her with her baka gun as Mikan gracefully dodged all of them gracefully without even breaking a single sweat while her classmates just stared at her amazingly.

"_Whoa. She has really been training just like Natsume. She's pretty good." _They all thought.

"Mou, what was that all about, Hotaru? I just got back from the hospital, you know." Mikan said right after she was able to dodge the fifth shot.

"What the heck are you doing here, Mikan? You still need to rest. Do you even plan on going back to the hospital?" Hotaru said while worry was very evident in her voice.

"Hotaru, you've known me ever since we were kids and you know very well that staying alone in a room is pretty boring and it will definitely not help to recover faster. So I decided to come to class instead and I even met Mr. Narumi along the way so I decided to go to class with him instead." Mikan explained as Mr. Narumi suddenly spoke.

"Okay, I still have a few more things to say. Since the AAO leader and cronies are already gone, I am happy to say that every person with an Alice is already safe from the hands of evil because during the last mission of Mikan-chan, they have been finally and permanently defeated them. And with this, the DA type students don't have to do missions anymore so let's all give her a round of applause."

The whole class then clapped and cheered for Mikan while Mikan just blushed as bright as a tomato while standing right in front of the class.

"And since I know that you guys have missed Mikan a lot, I will give you this as a free period so that all of you may have time to talk to her. Just don't talk too long because she might be worn out since she still needs to take a rest. Adieu!" Then he left the room with a pirouette and a flip.

Some students left right after Mr. Narumi left the room while some students stayed for a bit to talk to Mikan. And one of the students who left the room immediately was Natsume.

"_Uhm… I guess Natsume is really mad at me. He didn't even bother asking if I'm already okay or something." _Mikan sadly thought.

They talked for a while until they went their own separate ways since they have their own things to tend to.

Mikan was walking an empty and quiet hallway since classes are still going on for some students. She went to the place where she misses the most. It was the place where her heart and feet took her – the Sakura Tree that she and Natsume shared most of the time. She went there and talked to the tree without knowing that Natsume was just there on a tree branch.

"Hello there Mr. Tree, you know I missed you a lot. I have been clearly missing a whole lot of things and people. And most of all, I miss my Natsume, IF he's still mine that is. Come to think of it, I don't even know if he still wants me to be his girl. Ever since the night he saved me from Reo and ever since the yelling sessions we had along the hallways, we haven't been talking lately. And now, I think that I am complete dimwit who is talking to a tree who will probably not even respond. But hey, who cares. At least I could talk to someone or at least something." She started.

"It seems that everything seems to be back to normal as of now. Everyone can finally be safe and they have absolutely nothing not worry about, except for me that is." She continued with a sigh while Natsume was just listening to her intently.

"I just wish that everything would be normal for me as well. But I guess my life won't be back to normal if it's like this. You see, even if all of my friends are there for me and even my friends are there to cheer me up, I still can't manage to be truly happy. Every since Natsume and I have been distant from each other, I always feel incomplete or something like that. But I guess it's also my fault in the first place. I never should have kept the mission thing a secret and I never should have avoided him." She stated as she started to cry and then leaned closed onto the tree trunk while breathing really hard.

"_Shit! She's crying again all because of me! Damn it! I really hate it when she cries like that! And the worst part is that she's crying all because of me and that she's even blaming herself but I also made a mistake! How on earth could I be so stupid?! Argh!" _Natsume thought while staring at Mikan.

"But you know Mr. Tree, when I was in the hospital, I thought that I heard Natsume talking to me when I was still asleep. I just don't know whether it's a dream or not. If I could remember it right, I heard him say sorry and that he won't be able to forgive himself if ever something bad happens to me. During that time, I also heard him say something that he has never told me ever since that I agreed to be his girlfriend. He told me that he loves me and that he needs me. I swear that I heard his voice because I felt like crying that time. But I guess that it was all a dream after all since Natsume is still not talking to me. He didn't even bother asking if I'm already okay right after Mr. Narumi told us that there will be a free period. He just left the room quickly and as of now, I have no idea where he could be. You know, I just wish that my dream in the hospital was true." She said as she sighed again. She has been tired from all of that crying and all.

"Oh, I also met an angel named Kenji. He's also the angel I met when I was 6 when I almost left Hotaru and grandpa. I was supposed to go to heaven with my grandpa and Kenji but when I was about to go, I heard Natsume scream out my name. And then the memories that I have had with my friends suddenly came back. I guess Natsume and my friends really have an impact in my life. They were the reasons why I decided to go back – Hotaru, Ruka, Anna, Nonoko, Koko, Yuu, Mr. Narmi, and most especially, Natsume. I just hope that everything will really be fine for me." she said as she looked at the setting sun.

"Oh look, it's almost sundown. I guess I have been here the whole afternoon. Gee, I look like a big mess and my eyes are so red and puffy. Tsk, Hotaru and Natsume were right. I really am I big crybaby. Sorry for all of the waterworks and drama scenes that I have made while I was here, Mr. Tree. But at least I was able to talk even if you're just a tree." She said while yawning.

"Well, I'm tired from all of the crying and stuff so I better get going now, Mr. Tree. I still need to rest and if Hotaru knew that I'm here she might shoot me with her gun. Thanks for listening to me anyway, Mr. Tree. Ja!"

Once Mikan was away, Natsume immediately jumped off the tree branch and one thing was in his mind and he was really very determined to do it.

"_I need to go to Polka's room right now and work things out between us. I can't stand it seeing her like this every single day of my life." _He thought as he proceeded to the room of Mikan which was only in front of his room since she was now a special star. _"I will definitely fix things no matter what."_


	37. Everything will be okay

CHAPTER 37: Everything will be okay

Mikan proceeded directly to her room, changed into her nightgown which was pink with laces at the hem of the skirt and I ribbon at the back. She then hopped into her bed and closed her eyes being ready for a good night's sleep. She fell asleep a little while later and then the flame caster entered her room. (A/N: don't forget that he still has her spare key to her room.)

He then walked silently towards Mikan. Natsume then sat at the edge of her bed as he stared at her. She looks like an angel while sleeping although her tear strained face proved that she has been crying for a long time. He gently held Mikan's hand with his left hand and then stroked her auburn locks with his right hand. This made our little brunette stir. She gently opened her eyes and saw that a crimson eyed lad was right there beside her.

"Na-Natsume? What are you doing here?" she groggily asked as Natsume just gave him another hug.

"Too tight… can't breathe… let go…" she said while having a hard time breathing as Natsume let go. He then placed his hands onto Mikan's cheeks and then tilted her head so that they may face each other.

"Hey, I just want you to know that what you heard in the hospital was not a dream. It was all real." He said as calmly as possible.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" asked a very puzzled Mikan.

"I heard you a while ago when you were talking to the tree and I practically heard everything. I decided not to go down since I figured out that you needed some time to be alone." He explained.

"Oh." Was all that Mikan could say after hearing what Natsume has said. "Are you really sure that it was not a dream? It's very unlikely for a typical Natsume to say those kinds of things." She mumbled.

"It's true. You were not dreaming. I said those things."

"Prove it." Mikan stated.

"Fine. That night, I told you that I was sorry and that I really am. I also said that I was a very stupid jerk who didn't even consider your side of the story. That time, I only wanted for you fast recovery so that we could work things out between us. You know, I really would not be able to forgive myself if anything abd happened to you that time since I was the reason why you had to do missions."

"That doesn't make any sense. You just repeated what I have said to the tree. I bet you're still mad at me since you didn't even bother talk to me ever since I woke up." She whispered while tears started to form her amber eyes.

"_Oh no! She's going to cry again!" _ He thought. "That's not true. I was never mad at you. Please don't cry. I really don't like it when I see you crying." He said with a very concerned voice while hugging her again.

"I bet you even wanted me to be gone since you were really mad at me." Mikan muttered

"That is not true. I even did many things just to make sure that you'll live again." He explained.

"That's true." Hotaru spoke as the two of them faced her in surprise. "So will you just stop crying? It will make you even more tired and you even look uglier. Hyuuga, you could leave now. I'll be the one to talk to her."

"But I still-"

"Just leave, okay?" she said while giving him a leave-it-to-me-I'll-make-sure-that-it'll-be-ok type of look as Natsume just nodded and left the room.

"So, was it really true, Hotaru?" asked Mikan while Hotaru nodded and then started to explain.

"You know, when you were in the hospital, everyone knew that Natsume really cared for you. He forgot all of his cool and proud self. He was so worried about you. He was the one who carried you to the hospital since he was in my room when you fainted. As you were brought to the emergence room, Subaru-nii told us that there would be lesser chances that you'll live if you won't have blood donors since you've lost too much blood from the mission. All of us checked our blood types but no one was compatible except for Natsume."

"So he gave me some blood?" asked Mikan while Hotaru nodded again.

"Actually, I think most of the blood that runs in your body is from him."

"WHAAAAAAAAAAATTT?!?!? He did that?! Is he stupid?! He could have been killed!" Mikan shouted as Hotaru just placed a finger on her lips for her to calm down and she started talking again.

"The blood bank ran out of your blood so he gave you. At first, he donated 4 packs but the doctors said that it was still not enough so he insisted to get some more blood from him. Onii-chan told him that he can die because of that but he insisted. He even told him these exact words: 'Just get my damn blood. If you need all of it then get it!'. All in all, they were able to have 7 packs of blood which was all donated by your boyfriend. I even admired him for that since he loves you so much that he'd still risk his life for you."

Mikan just sat on her bed in silence as Hotaru started talking again. "There was also a time that we took turns in taking care of you. It was Natsume's turn and he was talking to you while you were asleep. I just listened from the door so that he won't be disturbed or something."

"What did he say, Hotaru?"

"If I can remember right, he was apologizing. He said that he'll not forgive himself if something bad happens to you. He also said that he loves you and that he will always love you. He also said that you should not die since all of us needs you, and that he needs you." Hotaru answered while staring at her while Mikan was as silent as a mouse. "Well, you need to go to sleep. Oyasumi, Mikan. Oh and one more thing, just follow your heart. Everything will be fine." She said as she turned off the light and left the room.

As her heart and instincts told her, Mikan left the room and knocked on Natsume's door. He then opened the door revealing a brunette who was staring intently at him. Mikan then hugged Natsume and started to cry again. "I am so sorry, Natsume. I made you worry too much and you almost died because of too much blood loss all because of me!"

"Shhh. Don't cry. It's alright. It's all in the past so you don't have to worry about it. Okay? What's important is that you're alright now." he said while patting Mikan's back.

"I love you, Natsume." Mikan whispered.

"I love you too. And I will always will no matter what happens." He replied.

And then their lips locked. It was a sweet and passionate kiss that they will surely never forget. And as of now what they know is that everything is now okay since they have each other. Natsume then broke the kiss and brought Mikan back to her room. They both slept well with smiles on their faces since they knew that nothing can ever take them away from each other.


	38. Halloween memories

CHAPTER 38: Halloween Memories

It's been a few after Mikan was totally recovered. Things have been the same. Mikan was still as cheery as ever, Hotaru was still that stoic blackmailer, Ruka is still nice animal lover that everyone adores, Natsume is still the cold-hearted flame caster but he has softened up little by little all because of Mikan, Yuu is still the class representative, Anna and Nonoko still did practically everything together, Koko still loves reading minds.

Each couple joined the Halloween Dance. The dance was surely a night to remember for all of them.

"Yey! I am so excited for the dance! For once Natsume finally agreed to come!" Mikan squealed.

"Yeah! I can't wait!" Anna and Nonoko chorused while Hotaru just kept quiet.

"Hotaru, I have a feeling that this might will definitely something worth remembering." Mikan told her best friend.

"Me too. Let's go. They are probably waiting for us." Hotaru said as they all went to the Sakura Tree which was their meeting place.

DANCE…

"Okay, we all know that everyone was enjoying the dance but we have some announcements." Said Tsubasa, the emcee as the crowd silenced up a bit ready to listen.

"A few guys have asked us a little favor so we agreed since we knew that this will lead to a very happy result. Right, Tsubasa?" continued Misaki as Koko, Yuu, Ruka and Natsume entered the stage. All girls have heart shaped eyes who were squealing their names while they were all shot by the baka gun of Hotaru.

"Bakas." Hotaru murmured while the other girls just giggled.

"Okay, please listen to what these handsome guys have to say." Misaki said as Yuu started.

"Uhm. Good evening everyone. I, Yuu Tobita, would like to tell someone something really special. Uhm… I love this person so much, and I really can't imagine my life without her. So, Ms. Anna Umenomiya, would you marry me right after we graduate from the academy?" he said while blushing a slight tint of pink as the crowd cheered as Anna also blushed as red as a tomato.

"Okay, that was very surprising, but before we hear the answer of Anna-chan, let's hear what the other guys have to say." Announced Tsubasa as Koko spoke up.

"Hey, just like what Inchou has said, I also have someone who is very important to me. I really love her. Sheesh, I'm not good as speeches and stuff so please just bear with me." he said while sighing on stage as a few people laughed. "Angel, I love you so much. Uhm… and I would also love it better if you would be my wife. So will you also marry me right after we graduate?"

The crowd cheered once again as Nonoko was the one who blushed as bright as a tomato this time. Once the crowd has quiet down, Ruka was the one who spoke on the microphone.

"A-ano… Just like Koko, I am also not good at speeches and stuff but I just everyone to know that there is this one person whom I love so much. I will probably be shot by her guns after I say things tonight but I won't mind. Hotaru Imai, would you accept my offer for you to be the woman of my dreams?"

The crowd went wild. Some were so totally happy while some were crying their eyes out since they knew that Ruka can never be theirs. While the crowd was going wild, the girls were doing some things on their own. They were preparing necklaces for their boyfriends but the pendant was their Alice Stones. As everyone was busy, they stopped what they were doing since they heard the voice of the flame caster.

"_Geez, this would be really embarrassing. But who cares? I better get a proper answer from Polka after." _He thought. "I won't make this any longer. Oi, Polka, I just want tell you that I love you and I will always love you no matter what happens. So will you spend the rest of your life with me?"

The crowd even was crazier than ever. They can't even believe that Natsume would be able to do something like that – even Mikan.

"Okay, since we have heard what these guys have to say, may we call on Anna, Nonoko, Hotaru and Mikan to come here to the stage." Announce Misaki.

"My little Mikan-chan is finally all grown up." Cried a Tsubasa while he received a glare from Natsume.

Four beautiful looking girls then went up to the stage. Each taking the position next to her boyfriend and then they all gave them a hug. Mikan then took a microphone as well as the other girls. "Well, this surely surprised all of us." Started Mikan.

"We never imagined that they would actually do something like this." Continued Hotaru.

"Yeah, even Natsume and Ruka did it." Mikan said.

"But even so, this made us really happy." Nonoko and Anna chorused.

Then they handed all of their mikes to Tsubasa and Misaki as they went nearer to their guys and then placed their necklaces on. This startled all of them but they didn't mind. Anna gave Yuu one with a cupcake pendant made in a light pink stone. Nonoko gave Koko one with an angel pendant made with a dark blue stone. Hotaru gave Ruka one with a bunny pendant made with a purple stone and Mikan gave Natsume one with a flame pendant made in an orange stone.

"Yuu Tobita/Kokoro Yomi, I would love to marry you right after we graduate." Anna/Nonoko said.

"Yes." Hotaru answered Ruka.

"I would definitely love to spend the rest of my life with you, Natsume." Mikan answered.

The whole crowd cheered for all of them. Even Mr. Jinno was happy for them. Mr. Narumi was even crying his eyes out all because of too much joy.


	39. Epilogue

CHAPTER 39: Epilogue

After a few years, they were all pledged graduates from the academy. Mikan and Natsume finally knew that Natsume was Setsu and Mikan was Shontelle. They were all married at the same time at the same church. And from that day on they were Mr. & Mrs. Yuu and Anna Tobita, Mr. & Mrs. Kokoro and Nonoko Yomi, Mr. & Mrs. Ruka and Hotaru Nogi, and Mr. & Mrs. Natsume and Mikan Hyuuga.

They went on in separate ways but they always managed to keep in touch with each other no matter what.

After 8 years…

Yuu and Anna now have their own bakery and this soon has many franchises and branches in different places. Anna was the main chef while Yuu was the one managing the whole business.

They now have three siblings. They have two boys and their youngest was a girl. Their first child was Riki. He is already 6 years old and he has the Water Alice. Their second child was Kaji. He is 4 years old and he has the Flying Alice. Their youngest is Fumei and she is 2 years old. She has the Levitation and Float Alice.

Koko and Nonoko now have their own pharmacy and chemical factory. This was of course founded by Nonoko and Koko was with her all the way. They have 5 children. The eldest is 7 years old. His name is Nakezu. He has the Mind Reading Alice. The next were triplets. They were Kairi, Michi, and Kizu. They all have both Mind Reading and Chemical Alice and they are 5 years old. And their youngest is Taki. He is just 3 years old and his Alice is the Ice Alice.

Ruka and Hotaru now have different businesses. Ruka owns a very famous veterinary stall and Hotaru was a very successful business tycoon. They have 3 children. The eldest is Henri. He is 6 years old and he has the Invention Alice. Next is Seita. He is 3 years old and he possesses the Animal Pheromone Alice and the Laser Alice. Their youngest is Reika. She is 2 years old and she has the Wind Alice.

Natsume and Mikan are now successful business tycoons as well. They are also successful and popular actor/actress and a singer. They have 3 children. The first two are twins, a boy and a girl respectively. They are Namoto and Hikari. They are now 5 years old. They both have the Fire and Nullifying Alice. Their youngest child is Setsuko. She is 2 years old and they still don't know what Alice she possesses.

It seems that things ended well for all of them. Each and every one of them are now living peaceful and happy lives and they don't worry for letting their children go to Alice Academy since they know that they are now safe and they already have the chance to see their children since the academy became like an ordinary school where the students get to live with their parents and not being kept away from them until they graduate.


End file.
